Presidential debates
Schedule
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced on May 5, 2015, that there would be 6 debates, which they considered "a reasonable number and in line with what the national committee sanctioned in 2008." On August 6, 2015, the DNC announced the locations for all six original debates, with exact venues still to be determined, and the specific dates for the first four debates. In late January 2016, trailing the New Hampshire primary race, the Clinton campaign requested a second New Hampshire debate, which had already been scheduled to February 4, to be officially sanctioned by the DNC. The Sanders campaign said they would only agree with that proposal if a total of four additional debates would be held, one in February, March, April and May each. Both campaigns agreed to a March 3 debate in Flint, Michigan. There also seemed to be agreement on a California debate on May 24, but not at the remaining April 14 debate in Brooklyn, New York, as proposed by Sanders. On February 3, just ahead of the second New Hampshire debate, Clinton's and Sanders's campaigns agreed in principle to holding four more debates, also sanctioned by the DNC, for a total of 10.Ratings
The following table lists the ratings (number of estimated viewers) of the debates to date.Tuesday October 13, 2015 – Las Vegas, Nevada
The Democratic Party's first presidential debate ahead of theSaturday November 14, 2015 – Des Moines, Iowa
The Democratic Party's second presidential debate ahead of theSaturday December 19, 2015 – Goffstown, New Hampshire
The Democratic Party's third presidential debate ahead of theSunday January 17, 2016 – Charleston, South Carolina
The Democratic Party's fourth presidential debate ahead of the 2016 Democratic primaries, and the first one in 2016, was held on January 17, 2016, at the Gaillard Center, a venue for performing arts in Charleston, South Carolina. Held from 9 to 11 pm ET, it was facilitated byThursday February 4, 2016 – Durham, New Hampshire
The Democratic Party's fifth presidential debate ahead of theThursday February 11, 2016 – Milwaukee, Wisconsin
The Democratic Party's sixth presidential debate ahead of theSunday March 6, 2016 – Flint, Michigan
The Democratic Party's seventh presidential debate ahead of theWednesday March 9, 2016 – Miami, Florida
The Democratic Party's eighth presidential debate ahead of theThursday April 14, 2016 – Brooklyn, New York
The Democratic Party's ninth presidential debate ahead of thePlanned May debate/Potential Sanders/Trump debate
Despite previously agreeing to a tenth debate in the state of California, before the last day of primary elections, Hillary Clinton declined to participate. As a result of this, the debate was cancelled. Bernie Sanders called it insulting to the people of California, the largest primary state. After it had been established that a California debate would not take place, Donald Trump offered a debate with Bernie Sanders ahead of the June 7th primary. The only condition for this debate was for the profits to be donated to a charity, which the candidates would agree on. Bernie Sanders accepted the offer; however, Donald Trump eventually declined to participate, stating there was no need to debate a candidate who would not win the Democratic nomination.Forums
In addition to the main debates, twelve forums were scheduled for the candidates to discuss the issues.Schedule
November 6, 2015 – Rock Hill, South Carolina
Rachel Maddow was selected to moderate the First in the South Candidates Forum with Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Martin O'Malley, which was held atNovember 24, 2015 – MoveOn.org
The second forum for the Democratic primaries occurred on November 24, 2015. On October 21, 2015,January 11, 2016 – Des Moines, Iowa
The third forum, the Iowa Brown and Black Forum, occurred on January 11, 2016, atJanuary 25, 2016 – Des Moines, Iowa
The fourth forum was a Town Hall held on January 25, 2016, also atFebruary 3, 2016 – Derry, New Hampshire
The fifth forum, a Town Hall event, happened on February 3, 2016, at "Adams Opera House" in Derry, New Hampshire. Focusing on the several topics for "progressive proposals", it aired onFebruary 18, 2016 – Las Vegas, Nevada
The sixth forum, a Town Hall event, occurred on February 18, 2016, at the Keep Memory Alive (KMA) event center inFebruary 23, 2016 – Columbia, South Carolina
The seventh forum and Town Hall event was held at 8:00 pm EST on February 23, 2016, at the campus of the University of South Carolina inMarch 7, 2016 – Detroit, Michigan
The eighth forum, a Town Hall event, was held at 6:00 p.m. EST on March 7, 2016, at the Gem Theatre inMarch 13, 2016 – Columbus, Ohio
The ninth forum was held at 8:00 pm EDT on March 13, 2016, at the campus ofMarch 14, 2016 – Columbus, Ohio and Springfield, Illinois
The tenth forum was held at 6:00 pm EDT on March 14, 2016, at the campus ofMarch 21, 2016 – Washington, D.C
The eleventh forum was held at 8:00 pm EDT on March 21, 2016. This was known as the Final Five Forum byMarch 30, 2016 – Wisconsin and New York City
The twelfth forum was held at 7:00 pm EDT on March 30, 2016. This was a four-hour special onApril 25, 2016 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The thirteenth forum was held on April 25, 2016, at theCriticism and controversy
Number of debates
Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley criticized the number of DNC debates, saying that there should have been more debates. The DNC had scheduled six debates, the same number it had scheduled in the previous two contested primaries, 2004 and 2008. Democratic Party candidates are not formally allowed to participate in non-sanctioned debates if they want to participate in the official DNC debates. However, that rule is unenforceable if candidates jointly agree to additional debates or if the sanctioned debates are already over, as was the case in 2016 and in previous years when additional debates were scheduled. Criticism over the number of debates reached a peak at the DNC's national meeting inBlack Lives Matter debate
A week after the first debate was held in Las Vegas, the organization Black Lives Matter (which plays a central part in the movement of the same name) launched a petition targeted at the DNC and chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz demanding more debates, and "specifically for a #BlackLivesMatter themed Presidential debate." The petition received over 10,000 signatures within 24 hours of being launched, and had over 33,000 signatures as of October 27. The DNC said that it would permit presidential candidates to attend a presidential town hall organized by activists, but that it would not add another debate to its official schedule. In response, the organization released a press statement on its Facebook page stating that " consultation with our chapters, our communities, allies, and supporters, we remain unequivocal that a Presidential Town Hall with support from the DNC does not sufficiently respond to the concerns raised by our members", continuing to demand a full additional debate.Candidates invited to debate
Harvard professorDates with low expected ratings
The campaigns of both Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley have criticized the days and times for the debates as well as stating that more debates are needed. Of the nine debates, two took place on a Saturday, two on Sunday, three on a Thursday, one on a Tuesday and one on a Wednesday. The choice of Saturday was criticised because it generally has lower television viewership according to Nielsen ratings, with only Friday nights having lower ratings. While the first Democratic debate took place on a Tuesday night and drew 15.3 million viewers, the second Democratic debate took place on a Saturday night and drew only about 8.5 million viewers. The third Democratic debate also took place on a Saturday night, and drew slightly lower but comparable ratings to the second debate. In the event, the Saturday night debates were the third- and fifth-most watched debates. One of the Saturday night debates took place the Saturday before Christmas, and another took place on Sunday night of Martin Luther King Day weekend, a scheduling that Vox.com says is also expected to make for poor ratings. Democratic National Committee (DNC) chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz has denied claims that the DNC wants to protect frontrunner Hillary Clinton by picking dates that will receive poor viewership.See also
*References
External links