Martin O’Malley and Bernie Sanders say that the Democrats should have more presidential debates, citing the record 24 million people who watched the GOP candidates as proof there is demand for discussion of the issues.
O’Malley senior strategist Bill Hyers argued that that the Democratic National Committee is limiting party members’ ability to hear from their candidates for president.
“Not only is this exclusive process un-democratic, but it’s also bad for our Party,” Hyers said in a campaign statement. “We are essentially ceding critical debates and conversations we need to be having about the future to a group of very extreme candidates on the right.”
Hyers contended that no one on the Republican stage represented progressive perspectives on healthcare, abortion, immigration, Wall Street regulation or other key issues facing the country.
“These policies would be disastrous for our country,” he said of the conservative positions on the above issues. “But voters won’t even get to hear why — or what Democrats would do differently —for another two months, and even then they will only get to hear four times from our candidates before the Iowa Caucus.”
The O’Malley campaign asked the DNC to add debates, saying, “If we don’t, we will literally cede the debate to right-wing ideologues.”
Sanders agreed with the O’Malley team’s statement, sending out an email to supporters just hours later stating that the Democrats need more debates and “if Secretary Clinton wants more debates we’ll get them.” Sanders cited the Republicans lack of seriousness during the debates as the reason Democrats need to spend more time discussing “real issues” on prime time.
Both O’Malley and Sanders complained that the lack of debates limits second-tier candidates from the opportunity to stand up to Clinton, when the schedule was announced on Thursday. Sanders conceded that both his and other candidates’ requests have gone unanswered, so the best way for the DNC to listen would be for front-runner Clinton to call for more debates.
“Republicans aren’t going to do it, so we need more Democratic debates — more than the four scheduled by the Democratic National Committee before the Iowa Caucuses,” Sanders said. “And I know that if Secretary Clinton wants more debates, we’ll get them.”
