NOT TOUGH ENOUGH: For Democratic Hopefuls, Qualifying for November Debate Just Got Tougher.

The committee said Monday that candidates would need to reach at least 3% in four polls and attract at least 165,000 individual donors. The party is also creating an alternative way to hit the polling requirement, allowing candidates to qualify if they reach 5% in at least two polls in early-voting states such as Iowa and New Hampshire.

The requirements represent a slightly tougher standard than this month’s debate in Houston and the two-night event planned in October in Ohio. For those, candidates need 130,000 individual donors and at least 2% support in four polls.

Ten candidates qualified for the Houston debate, but one or two additional candidates are expected to make it into the next forum, likely pushing it into two nights, Oct. 15-16, in Westerville, Ohio.

Leave it to the DNC to tighten the rules yet still let in more contenders.

I had hoped we were done with these two-night debates, which turn simple drunkblogging into a marathon of ickiness. But at least they allow me to write off an even bigger portion of my liquor bill.