Former New Hampshire state senator and Democratic National Committee delegate Peter Burling has joined the ranks of prominent Democrats who are blasting the DNC’s restrictive primary debate schedule.
Burling slammed the DNC in an op-ed Tuesday for imposing “unprecedented exclusivity rules on candidates” and failing to address legitimate concerns surrounding the current debate format which includes just four televised debates before the first-of-the-nation Iowa caucuses in February.
“For example, why does the DNC think it is important to impose an unprecedented banishment rule against any Democratic candidate feisty enough to participate in an unsanctioned debate?” Burling wrote.
A campaign spokesperson for Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders recently said the Vermont senator is exploring the possibility of hosting his own debates with various Republican candidates, a number of whom have criticized their own party’s debate structure.
“No promises, obviously, but it is something that Bernie has expressed a strong interest in doing,” Sanders’ campaign manager, Jeff Weaver, reportedly said last week.
Should Sanders, who recently pulled ahead of Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire, move forward and participate in a debate outside of those hosted by the DNC, the committee’s current rules state that he would be punished and potentially kept from engaging in a future DNC-sanctioned debate.
“For Bernie Sanders, who gathers up an audience of 10,000 people almost without breaking a sweat, this rule must seem like a pair of handcuffs custom crafted to control his behavior,” Burling wrote in his op-ed for CNN.
“We don’t know what will happen if the DNC tries to impose such punishment on one of our top candidates, but I’ve got a pretty good idea,” he added.
Burling criticized his party’s principal committee for scheduling a debate less than a week before Christmas when, he says, watching a presidential primary debate is next to last on most Americans’ “to do” lists.
“Even for those of us who are completely committed to the process of picking someone who will win in 2016,” he added.
“I’ve also pondered why the Democratic voters of the state of New Hampshire have been treated like children when it comes to presidential debates, told what they may have and when they may have it, but given no say in the matter,” Burling wrote.
The former Democratic Leader of the New Hampshire House of Representatives described primary debates as a crucial step in getting voters “fired up,” engaged, and encouraged to continue paying attention throughout the election cycle.
“Is all of that valuable energy and activity to be passed over? Really?” Burling wrote before noting that in 2008, there were three primary debates in New Hampshire alone before the state held its primary election.
Burling joins Sanders, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and several others who’ve accused the DNC of developing its debate process to the benefit of Clinton. This, he writes, goes against the party’s fundamental principles and prevents the candidates from practicing their skills “in preparation for the difficult political struggle to come, against the GOP.”
“The majority of us believe in fair and open debates as a way of spreading Democratic ideas and solutions,” he wrote.
“What possible reason could there be to give up on a debate schedule that has given us Presidents like Clinton and Obama?” he asked. “This is another question the DNC has yet to answer.”
