WASHINGTON — Sen. Bernie Sanders blasted the Democratic National Committee as “dead wrong” on limiting the number of candidate debates — a format that has been criticized as a coronation for front-runner Hillary Clinton.
“I have let the leadership of the Democrats know that,” the Vermont senator said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I think this country benefits, all people benefit, democracy benefits when we have debates and I want to see more them.”
The DNC has restricted debates to six and will ban any candidate participating in an unsanctioned forum.
Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley said previously that the DNC is creating a “rigged process” in favor of Clinton. A social media movement is underway dubbed #AllowDebate to pressure the DNC into more sanctioned events. The first debate is Oct. 13 in Nevada.
The six-debate schedule is designed out “of a false sense that they have to circle the wagons around the inevitable front-runner,” O’Malley told WMUR TV in New Hampshire.
“What we should be having is an exchange of the ideas that actually serve our national good.”
During the prolonged 2008 primary between then Sens. Clinton and Barack Obama, there were 25 Democratic debates. In the 2012 cycle, Republicans had 20 debates. The GOP also clamped down this year by capping debates at 12.
Stung by an ongoing investigation in her email server and her clumsy handling of the controversy, Clinton has lost support in the polls. The latest Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics poll found Sanders, a self-described socialist, is within single digits of Clinton in Iowa– 30 percent to her 37 percent. Vice President Biden, who is still mulling a run, is at 14 percent.
“I don’t know if her campaign is in trouble but our campaign is doing great,” Sanders told ABC’s “This Week.” “It’s not just in Iowa; it’s in New Hampshire; it’s all across this country.”
He added: “This is not anti-Hillary Clinton. This is pro-Bernie Sanders and pro a message that says enough is enough. This country and our government belong to all of us, not just a handful of very wealthy people.”