The same day Republican candidates will share a stage for the first time, the Democratic National Committee announced that its first debate will be held on October 13.
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Then, in February or March, after the Iowa caucuses that begin the primary season, there will be two more debates in Florida and Wisconsin on yet-to-be-announced dates. Other locations include Des Moines, IA, in November; Manchester, NH, in December; Charleston, SC, in January; and Miami and Wisconsin, which each would take place in either February or March.
The Democratic candidates for president will not debate until October 13, kicking off a schedule that looks nothing like the endless list of debates that stretched almost a year during the Democrats’ last contested primary. But while Republicans are hosting their first debate in the important general election swing state of Ohio, the Democrats are headed to the early primary states.
But not all of the Democratic candidates are thrilled. The second GOP debate is set for September 16 at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California. For O’Malley and Sanders, both of whom lag behind Clinton in fundraising and organization, debates offer an opportunity to get national attention. Wasserman Schultz said the DNC was still negotiating with news outlets about the format for the debates which “allow a robust discussion of critical issues, with all our candidates having equal opportunities to make their views known”. Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, former Virginia Sen.
“It’s all about trying to pre-ordain the outcome, circle the wagons and close off debate”, O’Malley said.
Democratic presidential candidate, former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee, speaks during the Iowa Federation of Labor AFL-CI… What’s new is that Nevada will host the first of the debates.
“As she has noted in the past, Hillary Clinton is looking forward to joining her fellow Democratic candidates in the upcoming DNC-sanctioned debates”, spokesman Jesse Ferguson said in a statement. If they agree to appear in the sanctioned Democratic debates, they can not take part in unsanctioned debates.
“The people of Iowa, the people of New Hampshire are accustomed to being able to evaluate each of the candidates in multiple debate formats”, O’Malley says.
The other Democrats running, in fact, reacted to the debate schedule with a big shrug.
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“Rather than follow the RNC’s lead of having an inclusive and neutral process, the DNC is clearly putting its thumb on the scale for Hillary Clinton“, Allison Moore, press secretary for the Republican National Committee, said in a statement.
