Late last week, the Democratic National Committee announced that it would hold only one October debate (on the 15th, rather than the 15th and 16th), packing the 12 qualifying candidates onto a single stage. As others have highlighted, the overcrowding will likely mean even less substance and more quibbling. There is, however, another important and overlooked consequence of the DNC's decision: The single debate will slip in hours before the Federal Election Commission's (FEC) third-quarter fundraising filing deadline, delivering an undeserved blessing to candidates who don't wish to answer questions about their unsavory fundraising ties.
There are many reasons to loathe the Democratic primary debates. Stages packed with ten (or more) candidates are inevitably chaotic. Candidates and moderators dedicate more time to backbiting theatrics than to policy substance. Network news anchors launch questions that are indistinguishable from bad-faith Republican talking points. And, of course, each debate goes over essentially the same subject matter. We have all heard substantially the same repetition of GOP fearmongering over Medicare for All at least four times. Meanwhile, candidates have not once, for example, debated their diverse array of housing policy proposals.
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