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| PHOTO: STEPHEN B. MORTON/ASSOCIATED PRESS |
The newspaper said on Tuesday that Chuck Todd, host of NBC News show “Meet the Press” and MSNBC television host Rachel Maddow will host a Feb. 4 debate, contravening the Democratic National Committee’s limit of six officially sanctioned debates.
“We were always concerned that this would have been the first time in 32 years without a Democratic debate before the New Hampshire primary,” said Joseph McQuaid, president and publisher of the newspaper, in a statement. “We are glad to partner with MSNBC to ensure Granite Staters have the information they need to make a critical decision.”
Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley’s campaign immediately said he would participate. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s campaign said she would participate if the other Democratic candidates did as well. The Bernie Sanders campaign didn’t respond to a request for comment about his plans.
The number of debates has been a contentious issue within the Democratic Party. DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz decided last year to cap it at six, with two scheduled after the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary. In addition, three of the six debates were scheduled on weekends—including the Saturday before Christmas and the Sunday of a three-day weekend in January.
Candidates who participate in unsanctioned forums face exclusion from the remaining official debates, the DNC rules state. Republicans, by contrast, have scheduled nearly a dozen debates for their presidential candidates this cycle. And Democrats in 2008 held more than two dozen official debates during the long primary battle between Mrs. Clinton and Barack Obama.
Critics, particularly Mr. O’Malley, charge that the limited and inconvenient debate schedule was designed to protect Mrs. Clinton by limiting her rivals’ opportunity to score points in front of a national television audience.
At the campaign’s start, the Clinton campaign didn’t push for a fuller debate schedule, but she has performed well in the debates held so far. Another strong debate performance might be helpful to her, particularly in New Hampshire, where Mr. Sanders leads in polling.
A representative for NBC didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mrs. Wasserman Schultz stood firm against the Union Leader’s plans to add a forum, saying in a statement there were “no plans to sanction any further debates” prior to the Iowa causes and the New Hampshire primary. She added that the party might be willing to “review our schedule” after the first two presidential contests, leaving open the possibility of adding a forum.
“Our next DNC-sanctioned debate featuring our major candidates will be held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin hosted by PBS on Feb. 11, with another already scheduled for March 9 with Univision and the Washington Post,” she said.
A shorter debate schedule “gives the candidates an opportunity to stay on the campaign trail for those early-state primary voters and caucus voters to get a really close look at them,” Ms. Wasserman Schultz told CNN in defense of the debate schedule this month.
News of the unsanctioned Democratic debate was first reported by the website BuzzFeed.
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