Despite that the DNC and Chairman Debbie Wasserman Shultz predicted early this year that the party’s primary process would be “competitive”, the six sanctioned debates promised for the “fall” have yet to materialize.
In the 11th-hour preparations and polls leading up to the first GOP primary debate on Thursday, Democrat officials are increasingly wringing their hands at the contrasted lack of progress on their side of the ledger.
At this point in the 2007 election cycle, the party had already conducted five official debates among the wide field of candidates vying to succeed George W. Bush.
Speculation over the delays continues to mount, which include accusations that the party is stalling for Hillary Clinton to regain her momentum.
Competing theories argue that Hillary’s Democrat competitors came late to the game — which includes the potential for a Biden candidacy — which are pushing the horizon for meaningful debate ever closer to the beginning of the primary season.
The individual campaigns are between a rock and hard place in that, similar to rules promulgated by the RNC, they cannot accept invitations to independent debate venues without the risk of being blacklisted for official DNC events.
