- Despite initially having a remote chance at qualifying for the next televised debate, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard will be a day late and more than a few delegates short.
- The Democratic National Committee announced the new threshold for the March 15 debate will be 20 percent of all delegates awarded so far, a steep task for Gabbard given her campaign's resources and track record of poor performances so far.
- It's unclear why Gabbard is still in the race, but the bar being raised all but ensures a one-on-one debate between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders.
- Even if Gabbard somehow won all 352 delegates up for grabs on March 10 and the dozen split between Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands on March 14, she would still fall short.
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For a few days, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii technically had a chance of making it back onto the debate stage.
But after the Democratic National Committee announced on Friday that candidates will need at least 20 percent of all of the delegates allocated so far to qualify, Gabbard will be on the outside looking in at the race's first one-on-one debate on March 15 between former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Even if Gabbard were to somehow secure all 352 of the delegates on the table on election night March 10 and nab the dozen on March 14 between Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, she would still fail to break the 20 percent threshold.
The Friday news led to the retirement of the hyper-observant Twitter account dedicated to the televised debate qualifications, now going by the name "The Artist Formerly Known as Debate Tracker."
The only word from Gabbard's campaign Friday was an announcement postponing an event in Las Vegas, where the Nevada Caucus took place almost two weeks ago.
The pleasure has been all mine. Since April will almost certainly be Biden vs Sanders as well, this concludes my debate tracking. Special thanks to @ZachMontellaro and @POLITICO_Steve for their polling spreadsheet, and @FiveThirtyEight for their latest polls page. https://t.co/sXvxWVbs0H
- The Artist Formerly Known as Debate Tracker (@TrackerDebate) March 6, 2020