Colorado’s Democratic U.S. Senator Michael Bennet has resorted an an embarrassing bit of e-begging for his flailing presidential campaign. In a desperate attempt to break out of the pack into the top twenty contenders, and onto the debate stage, Bennet is not aggressively putting forth an ambitious plan for America, but rather calling on people to become “Founding Donors” and donate anything to push his donor total above 65,000 donors.
Democratic National Committee rules governing the scrum of candidates fighting for a spot on the debate stage are complex, and almost certain to result in controversy when enforced. A candidate qualifies for the debate by collecting at least 65,000 donors with at least 200 donors in twenty states, or by achieving at least one percent in three major polls. There are various tie breaker tests after twenty candidates qualify.
In a FiveThirtyEight article published this week, Bennet is one of only three candidates who are deemed “major” who have not cracked one percent in at least three “debate qualifying polls.” The other two contenders are Seth Moulton and Marianne Williamson – to which we say, who?
Maybe Senator Marble Mouth shouldn’t be fighting for a slot in a prime time debate – have you actually heard the guy talk? Most likely no, because he usually doesn’t, and when he does open his mouth, it doesn’t end well. We all recall the only time that Bennet actually got press coverage for a speech in the Senate – it was his unhinged rant about Ted Cruz and the government shutdown – an obvious pander for television time that went horribly wrong. Sir, you are no Anthony Weiner.
Either way, we’re not sure what the angle here is. Bennet certainly doesn’t seem to have traction as a candidate. Is he running for a cabinet position, instead?