The Democrats have a monumental problem (just one?) going into the January debate in Des Moines on Tuesday. Billing themselves the party of diversity, inclusion, and the common man will look kind of weird when audiences tune in to see an all-white, mostly male debate stage that includes two billionaires.
We were told that, at one point, the Democrats had the most “diverse field of candidates in history.” But those days have long gone — and the Democratic National Committee is entirely to blame.
The DNC developed completely arbitrary rules for inclusion in this debate.
To appear in the debate, candidates have to attract at least 5% support in at least four qualified or single-state polls, or at least 7% in two qualified early-state polls. They also must demonstrate that they have received donations from at least 225,000 unique donors, with at least 1,000 in a minimum of 20 states, territories, or the District of Columbia.
The rules eliminate candidates without solid name recognition and a lot of money to hire staff and buy ads. The criteria virtually guarantees that only the richest and most well-known candidates will appear on stage from now on.
If I were a Democratic voter, I would be resentful. Why not let the voters decide who should debate and who shouldn’t? Let the marketplace of ideas determine the winner.
But these are Democrats and without quotas for women and minorities, they are lost. Appealing to race and the “common man” are two-edged swords that cut both ways and even ordinary Democratic voters are grumbling.
Construction worker Eric Soderman, 49, complained about the pair’s influence to the Washington Examiner on the sidelines of a Bernie Sanders rally in Venice Beach, California.
“Billionaires buying stuff,” the Orange County resident said dismissively. “It’s hard to find a candidate these days that actually doesn’t have this nasty history behind him of just bad decisions, and Bloomberg is one of those guys,” he added, specifically regarding the former New York City mayor.
Despite Steyer partly funding efforts by her Democratic Party chapter in Santa Monica, California, to pass a housing bill, Patricia Hoffman, 71, was uncomfortable with “billionaires buying their way into the presidential race.”
“We would really like to see democracy belonging to the people, not to the dollars,” the retiree said after an Amy Klobuchar event in the Los Angeles County seaside city.
These Democrats are perfectly willing to take the billionaires’ money for their pet causes but god forbid they might want to run for office themselves.
As for the fate of non-white candidates, there is zero diversity of ideas among minority candidates. Senator Cory Booker has been trying to gain traction in the race for months, but the national media has dismissed him because he can’t raise a lot of money. Apparently, if you’re not buying ads on their networks, you don’t deserve a second look.
Indeed, Booker has a lot of appeal for Democrats who might embrace liberalism but reject the far left socialism of Bernie Sanders and the class warfare rhetoric of Elizabeth Warren. But his message isn’t getting out and now, he’s just another candidate with no chance to win hanging around and complaining he’s not getting any attention.
I see nothing wrong with having an all-white debate stage with billionaires. The problem is that no one has cast a meaningful vote yet. Candidates like Booker and former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick might have minuscule support in the polls, but are more than qualified to run. To dismiss them only proves how hypocritical Democrats are and why their pious devotion to “diversity” is a crock.
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