Why presidential debates are so easy to qualify for
Welcome to the first Republican presidential debate for the 2024 race. The event will take place on August 23 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and to qualify for participation, a candidate doesn’t need much. Voters would normally expect the front-runner, former president Donald Trump, to attend; but he has declined an invitation. What are the criteria for the remaining attendees? Only polling at 1 percent and having 40,000 unique campaign donors.
Fundraising probably shouldn’t be considered a valid yardstick anymore; our community has demonstrated time and again the ease of crowdfunding small dollar amounts. Frankly, there are multiple yeshivos in our community that could qualify for the debate stage, using that measure.
Polling could be considered a serious benchmark — but not if you set the bar at 1 percent. There are 335 million Americans, yet the GOP debate organizers decided that having 40,000 donors and 1 percent polling should determine which candidates will appear on the first big national stage of this campaign? For the most important position in the world?
No one planning a wedding takes such a come-one-come-all approach; why are the organizers doing so with this presidential debate?
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