Did you catch the debate last night?

Debate views for the Democratic Party are record low in comparison to that of the GOP debates. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, shown above, is responsible for scheduling Democratic debates on behalf of the Democratic National Committee. (File Photo)

by Sara Ritsch
Staff Writer

Debbie Wasserman Schultz, leader of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), has been accused of unfair scheduling and favoritism regarding the 2016 Presidential election’s Democratic debates.

Last night’s debate was held on a Sunday evening, the night before a holiday and during a significant football game. This was the fourth out of a maximum of six Democratic debates and reflective of Wasserman Schultz’s previous decision to hold the December 19 Democratic debate at the same time as an NFL football game.

The Republicans, on the other hand, are able to hold nine GOP debates, each of them upheld as the biggest event of the year. They are advertised more openly and scheduled appropriately to ensure views and attendance.

It’s like the world’s biggest monster truck rally – nachos, trucker hats and all.

The DNC’s debate schedule does quite the opposite. It limits each candidate’s time before a national television audience and seems to be intentionally planned to produce less viewers.

According to Time Magazine, DNC vice-chairs R.T. Rybak and Tuilsi Gabbard said that this rule of limitations is a mistake, stating, “‘It limits the ability of the American people to benefit from a strong, transparent, vigorous debate between our Presidential candidates, as they make the important decision of who will be our Democratic Presidential nominee.’”

An accompanying theory is that Wasserman Schultz’s debate schedule maintains a bias against Bernie Sanders’ and Martin O’Malley’s campaigns and favors Hillary Clinton’s. The fewer the viewers, the more likely that Clinton will remain the front-runner.

2015’s GOP debates generated a “record breaking” amount of views, according to PBS. The Democratic debates, however, have reached only up to about half of their views. This is not left up to the candidates – it is up to Wasserman Schultz.

I will admit that the GOP debates are quite entertaining. But, the Democratic debates are equally so.

Millions upon millions of viewers are not able to say either way because they are either dedicated to a Saturday night event or a Sunday night tradition. And each of these debates were scheduled ahead of time; each date chosen with calculated precision by the chair of the DNC.

So what is going on here?

The Gayly – 1/18/2016 @ 1:27 p.m. CST