--- title: First Democratic Debates Shows How 2016 Haunts Democrats description: Democrats are trying to avoid the missteps of the 2016 primary debates — a goal that has proven elusive as more candidates have announced. canonical: https://time.com/5598192/first-democratic-debate-2019-schedule/ author: Madeleine Joung article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-05-30T15:27:40.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-13T08:50:42.439Z article:section: Politics og:title: How the 2016 Debates Are Still Haunting Democrats og:description: Party leaders are trying to avoid the pitfalls of the debates on both sides og:url: https://time.com/5598192/first-democratic-debate-2019-schedule/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9a4ddef3c88f7874/698880560b72e3de9b6e86b1/2016-candidate-dropout.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Republican Candidates Take Part In Debates At Reagan Library In Simi Valley og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How the 2016 Debates Are Still Haunting Democrats twitter:description: Party leaders are trying to avoid the pitfalls of the debates on both sides twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9a4ddef3c88f7874/698880560b72e3de9b6e86b1/2016-candidate-dropout.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How the 2016 Debates Are Still Haunting Democrats > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=619b2741-af31-4346-82a8-f37006e5e0f3&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Meet the Democratic Candidates Running for President in 2020 [Watch (HLS stream): Meet the Democratic Candidates Running for President in 2020](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/EcGVhn6h.m3u8) (1:17)  _Published 2019-01-18. Meet the Democratic Candidates Running for President in 2020_ by [Madeleine Joung](https://time.com/author/madeleine-joung/) ## Madeleine Joung May 30, 2019 3:27 PM UTC Meet the Democratic Candidates Running for President in 2020 by [Madeleine Joung](https://time.com/author/madeleine-joung/) ## Madeleine Joung May 30, 2019 3:27 PM UTC Democrats and Republicans had opposing problems when they held their [presidential primary debates](http://time.com/4514652/debate-candidate-tricks/) in 2016. For Democrats, the perception that the party Establishment favored Hillary Clinton [fueled criticism](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bernie-sanders-democrats-dnc-2016-primary-election-debate-schedule/) about the format and timing of the debates. On the GOP side, a crowded field of candidates made debates unwieldy, while attempts to break them up just spurred resentment. Now, as they attempt to deal with a [historically large field](https://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2019/05/03/lead-jessica-dean-dnt-21-candidates-jake-tapper.cnn) in the 2020 primary, Democrats are trying to avoid those same missteps — a goal that has proven elusive as more candidates have announced. The Democratic National Committee announced on Wednesday that to qualify for the debate stage in September, candidates would have to [meet minimum polling and donor thresholds](http://time.com/5597610/democratic-national-committee-presidential-debates/) that are twice as high as the minimums to qualify in June and July. [Christina Bellantoni](https://annenberg.usc.edu/faculty/journalism/christina-bellantoni), director of the media center at the USC Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism, noted that Democrats can design the debates however they want. “The parties have their own prerogative,” she said. But that freedom also means Democrats are on the hook to find a way to hold the debates without angering the grassroots voters that they will need in the general election. The initial solution was to set a neutral goal for candidates to show support either in the polls or through contributions. In February, the DNC stated that in order to [qualify for the first debates](https://www.vox.com/mischiefs-of-faction/2019/5/29/18644420/2020-democrats-dnc-debate-rules), candidates would need to put up 1% showings in three polls or receive 65,000 unique donations. But meeting one of these thresholds does not guarantee a spot: to avoid overcrowding, the DNC has capped the roster at 20 candidates.  Tom Perez, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, speaks during the National Action Network Convention in New York on April 3, 2019\. The Democratic National Committee is upping the ante for its second round of presidential primary debates, doubling the polling and grassroots fundraising requirements from its initial summer debates. Seth Wenig–AP Tom Perez, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, speaks during the National Action Network Convention in New York on April 3, 2019\. The Democratic National Committee is upping the ante for its second round of presidential primary debates, doubling the polling and grassroots fundraising requirements from its initial summer debates. The 2016 Republican primary was similarly crowded, and the RNC’s solution was to direct the overflow into an [undercard debate](https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2015/12/15/undercard-debate/). Although former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina’s [standout performance](https://www.cnn.com/2015/09/16/politics/republican-debate-carly-fiorina/index.html) in the secondary event vaulted her into a primetime slot for the next round, others at the undercard debate described it as a “kids’ table” that cast them as runners-up. An aide to one of the undercard 2016 Republican candidates [told Politico](https://www.politico.com/story/2015/08/bottom-of-gop-heap-seething-at-rnc-over-debates-121542) at the time that “the party was putting its thumb on the scale” by staging the undercard debate in an empty arena, hurting the reputations of lesser-known candidates. To avoid the criticisms leveled at the RNC in 2016, the DNC’s first two debates will divide the top 20 candidates randomly across two nights, both in primetime. The DNC is also working hard to avoid any appearance of favoritism due to its own experiences in 2016\. At one point in the primary debates, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders [alleged that one debate](https://www.cnn.com/2016/04/03/politics/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-debate/index.html) had been scheduled over a holiday weekend to minimize viewership, while emails released by WikiLeaks showed that a CNN contributor leaked a debate question to the Clinton campaign. Still, debate experts said that could cause its own problems, with potential rivals such as former Vice President Joe Biden and Sanders, currently in the top spots in most polls, appearing on different nights. Additionally, even with the split across two nights, the debates may be too large to be substantive. “With 10 people on a stage, you can’t really do much that’s meaningful,” says Grant Reeher, director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute and a professor of political science at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. “They may end up competing with each other on … who has the best zinger.” On the other hand, Reeher says, restricting the debate stage too extensively is also not ideal because it creates “a self-fulfilling prophecy” in which dark horse candidates never get the chance to emerge. Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, who has not qualified for the first round, told Fox News on Tuesday that he doesn’t think the Democratic National Committee should be winnowing the field early in the process.” Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan, who has met the polling but not the donor requirement, made a similar argument, saying that “winnowing the field this early in the process” could hurt candidates “because you need a chance for the American people to see you.” Still, Bellantoni stressed that missing a debate isn’t necessarily the end of the world. “I have no doubt that whatever candidate doesn’t make this third debate, they will be doing an Instagram rebuttal, or they will have some sort of event to try to generate attention,” she said. Indeed, Donald Trump skipped a Republican debate in 2016, and instead held a fundraiser for veterans, which ended up getting more attention after [he failed to quickly make the promised donation](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/05/24/four-months-later-donald-trump-says-he-gave-1-million-to-veterans-group/). ## Transcript [00:01] Democrats are lining up to run against Donald Trump. [00:03] [ MUSIC ] [00:08] With the 2020 election still a ways away, an unusually [00:11] large number of candidates have announced they are [00:12] running or hinted strongly that they will. Here's a look [00:15] at some of the major names who have joined the race [00:17] so far. [ MUSIC ] [00:20] As a law professor, Warren helped create the [00:22] Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Before joining [00:25] the Senate in 2012. She's long advocated for tougher [00:28] rules on banks and corporations and pocketbook [00:31] issues like student loan reform. A [00:35] former member of the House from upstate New York, [00:37] Gillibrand has moved to the left since taking Hillary [00:39] Clinton's old Senate seat in 2009. In announcing her [00:42] run, she cited her experience as a young mom. A [00:48] former state legislator and US representative, Brown [00:50] has represented Ohio in the Senate since 2006. He will [00:54] be pushing a brand of Midwestern liberalism that [00:56] mixes Trump's skepticism of trade agreements with [00:59] Warren's concerns about Wall Street. An [01:03] Iraq veteran and former state lawmaker, Gabbard was [01:05] the first Hindu elected to Congress. But her past [01:08] opposition to gay marriage and interactions with Syrian [01:10] dictator Bashar al- Assad make her a long shot in the [01:13] Democratic primary. [ MUSIC ] [01:16] The former mayor of San Antonio and Housing and [01:19] Urban Development secretary, Castro has an unusual [01:21] resume for a presidential candidate. But he believes [01:23] his arguments on hot- button issues like immigration [01:26] can help him break out. 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