What's Next for Democrats Who Missed Debate Cut?

9 Comments

by: Colorado Pols

Tom Steyer

The field of candidates for the next Democratic Presidential debate is set, with 10 hopefuls invited to the stage in Houston on September 12.

Several candidates who failed to meet the threshold to qualify for the Houston debate — 130,000 individual donors and a 2% polling average in at least four DNC-approved polls — have exited the race. New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand became the latest candidate to bow out on Wednesday.

Missing the September debate is a big blow for candidates such as Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, but it isn’t necessarily a death knell for 2020 aspirations. For those candidates who remain in the race (as of today), who is the most likely to withstand the September shunning and continue to run a competitive campaign?

As always, we want to know what you THINK, not who you support or would prefer to see successful. Cast your vote after the jump below…

9 thoughts on “What’s Next for Democrats Who Missed Debate Cut?”

Diogenesdemar says:

August 29, 2019 at 11:04 am

Even at ten, the field is too large by half (and it’s still 6 months too early for “debates”) . . .

. . . what’s next?

More doors slamming into more backsides would be nice.

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1. MichaelBowman says:
  
  August 29, 2019 at 11:19 am
  
  I see from the voting graph that Pfruit has made one last, valiant attempt to maintain the illusion his candidate is viable.
  
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JohnInDenver says:

August 29, 2019 at 11:56 am

I think Steyer is the only candidate with sufficient donors and anything close to 2% in enough polls that he's going to improve his status in the next month and be able to join the debate in October.

Reality bites (again) in a month. At that point, there will be the next round of debate announcements AND a mandatory FEC filing of donors. Those running on fumes will be noticed, and fundraising will be increasingly difficult (and increasingly needed).

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1. MADCO says:
  
  August 29, 2019 at 12:00 pm
  
  So the Starbucks guy could say the same thing… and stick around.
  Right?
  
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  1. JohnInDenver says:
    
    August 30, 2019 at 12:10 pm
    
    Starbucks guy Schultz has NO qualifying polls (over 2%, national or early state, since July 1), at this point. And I don't recall how many donors he said he had, but I don't think it was 130,000.
    
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MADCO says:

August 29, 2019 at 11:59 am

there are still over 200 declared candidates for the D nomination.

Some of them should stay until mid-March, even some of the debate exiters

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OrangeFree says:

August 29, 2019 at 1:36 pm

None of them is my choice. All of them should collect their lovely parting gifts and exit the stage,

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gertie97 says:

August 29, 2019 at 3:19 pm

Those who wish to slog around Iowa and New Hampshire should be free to do so. Debates with 10 contenders are hardly enlightening and serve as fodder for political reporters, the cable networks and nuts-and-bolts junkies. The two early states have produced dark horses before.

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1. JohnInDenver says:
  
  August 30, 2019 at 12:13 pm
  
  I can't think of any time since Carter in 1976 when Iowa and New Hampshire pushed a "dark horse" into "production." When did either one push someone NOT in the top half of the field into the top 5 or so out of those two states?
  
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