Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz on Sunday defended the primary season debate schedule she drew up, saying she did so with the goal to "maximize" media attention for the party's presidential candidates. The Florida congresswoman's comments came just hours before the 2016 Democratic presidential candidates were scheduled to take the stage for the fourth debate in Charleston, S.C.
Appearing on CNN on Sunday, Wasserman Schultz said, according to The New York Times, "I did my best to make sure, along with my staff and along with our debate partners, to come up with a schedule that we felt was going to allow... to maximize the opportunity for voters to see our candidates.”
Wasserman Schultz's reaction is a response to increasing criticism from the left and within the party that she scheduled too few debates and that, with half of them on weekends and surrounding holidays, they are too often televised at times when viewers aren't likely to hear their messages - a situation that many would argue is detrimental to the party and has the appearance of a process that inherently supports Hillary Clinton, according to Politico.
Wasserman Schultz said that more debates would "take away" opportunities for voters to meet candidates on the campaign trail. She also noted, "They [GOP] have a dozen candidates, and we have three," The Hill reported.
Sunday's debate in Charleston, S.C. is the last time the three candidates - Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley - will take the stage before the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 1. The debate will aired at 9 p.m. following an NFL playoff game and during the long Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend.
Before the last debate on a Saturday in December, Martin O'Malley and Bernie Sanders both vocalized their displeasure with the debate schedule. "They've scheduled it during shopping season, Dec. 19," O'Malley told The New York Times. "I don't know why that is. I think it's out of a false sense that they have to circle the wagons around the inevitable front-runner."
More pointedly, Sanders spokesman said that they were "playing the hand we were dealt," quipping, "I guess Christmas Eve was booked."
