The Democratic National Committee has established affirmative action quotas for presidential debates, which may not bode too well for those who don’t fit into one of the protected classes.
All of which rings of George W. Bush when he said in 2008 that he had to abandon free market principles in order to save the free market values, as it begs the question, in order to achieve diversity, how far will today’s Democrat Party go in excluding undesirable demographics — see straight white males.
The same folks who disallowed Fox News from participating in Democratic primary debates are “requiring” that every 2020 debate include at least one female moderator, Refinery29 reported.
“The DNC is committed to an inclusive and fair debate process,” DNC senior adviser Mary Beth Cahill told the digital media company.
“That means that all 12 DNC sanctioned debates will feature a diverse group of moderators and panelists including women and people of color, ensuring that the conversations reflect the concerns of all Americans.”
https://twitter.com/TheStevenTinker/status/1134445443155283968
This appears to be the first time the DNC has established a hard rule on diversity, according to Refinery29, and you can be sure the need to “reflect the concerns of all Americans” will not include the concerns of roughly half the country.
“We have taken an innovative and inclusive approach to debates so that we reach the widest audience and give our historically large field of candidates a fair chance to make their case to the American people,” Cahill added.
If the goal is to represent every race and ethnicity, there could be more moderators than the two dozen major Democratic candidates.
With the small army of people vying to take on President Donald Trump, the DNC has doubled the threshold for the crowded field to participate in debates.
More from Refinery29:
To qualify for the first and second debates, for which there’s a 20-person cap, candidates need to register 1% or more support in three polls, or receive donations from at least 65,000 individual donors and a minimum of 200 unique donors per state in at least 20 states. (Here’s where it gets tricky: If more than 20 candidates clear those qualifications, the participants will be chosen using a methodology that favors those who tick both boxes.) But to qualify for the third and fourth debates, candidates will need to both: register 2% or more support in four polls, and get 130,000 unique donors and a minimum of 400 unique donors per state in at least 20 states.
Of course, making an already complicated requirement even more complicated has already led to complaints from candidates that the new debate rules are forcing them to distort their priorities.
NEW: Democrats say new DNC debate rules are forcing them to distort their 2020 campaigns to get 130k donors.
Vendors are now quoting $40 and $50 to “acquire” ONE new $1 donor.
A flood of money to Facebook just as Ds complain about the tech giant… https://t.co/bdifDo0Z9F
— Shane Goldmacher (@ShaneGoldmacher) May 30, 2019
Ironically, Sayu Bhojwani, founder of the nonpartisan political organization New American Leaders, accused the party of being “white male gatekeepers.”
“The DNC’s new rules, coming so early in the cycle, will amplify the harm done to diverse candidates by a political elite — from pollsters to talking heads — dominated by white male gatekeepers,” Bhojwani said in a statement.
The first Democratic debate, hosted by NBC, is set for June 26 and 27 in Miami. The second debate, hosted by CNN, will be held on July 30 and July 31 in Detroit.
Over all, there will be 12 Democratic presidential primary debates.
To clarify that there’s a specific demographic being targeted here, behold:
It will be a great day when this is the article’s title “the Democratic National Committee is requiring that each 2020 Democratic presidential debate includes at least one male moderator” !
— Tara Reilly (@Treilly1298Tara) May 31, 2019
Heck yeah!
Take that!! white Republicans MEN!#VoteBlueNoMatterWho
???— Kyle Ruggles (@kyleruggles) May 31, 2019
https://twitter.com/raju/status/1134248814464909314
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The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.
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