LAS VEGAS—In a press conference in the hours leading up to the first Democratic debate here, party officials tried to keep the media focused on party principles, Republican shortfalls, and issues including affordable healthcare, trade unions and immigration reform.
Democratic National Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz led her remarks with an attack on the GOP. “On every measure on how people can reach the middle class, Democrats have tried to move America forward,” Wasserman Schultz said. “And the Republicans — as we have seen in their first two debates — have done everything they can to try and drag us back to failed policies.”
But it wasn’t long before reporters successfully pushed Wasserman Schultz off message as they homed in on controversies swirling around the debate schedule, including an allegation made by Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a DNC Vice Chair who says she was disinvited from the Wynn matchup after calling for more debates.
“The prevailing message of that was that because I continued to call for more debates, that I should not go to the debate in Las Vegas,” the Hawaii congresswoman told CNN Monday. “The issue here is not about me saying, ‘Boo hoo, I’m going to miss the party.’ The issue here is one of democracy and freedom of speech.”
Following Tuesday’s matchup at the Wynn in Las Vegas, five more debates are scheduled on different networks and in different states. One is six days before Christmas Day, while others are scheduled in generally sleepy weekend slots. One will be on PBS, a network that does not normally attract huge crowds.
Presidential hopefuls Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley have called for more debates. Both camps say the relatively low number is intended to shield Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton from a serious challenge from an insurgent candidate.
“The best chance for this country is discussing the issues that matter,” Sanders wrote in a petition calling for more debates. “Republicans aren’t going to do it, so we need more Democratic debates — more than the four scheduled by the DNC before the Iowa Caucuses.”
“If Secretary Clinton wants more debates, we’ll get them,” he added.
Following the Gabbard revelations Monday, the Sanders campaign offered one of their 40 reserved seats in the debate hall to the Hawaii congresswoman, which was declined.
Wasserman Schultz has been defending the committee’s decision to hold only six Democratic debates for weeks, but the controversy was reignited after the New York Times reported that Gabbard was disinvited after she expressed support for more debates.
The DNC chair said Tuesday that the 26 Democratic debates during the 2008 presidential primary were universally considered too many. She told reporters that the combination of debates, forums and speeches would give ample opportunity for candidates to introduce themselves to the American public.
“It takes the candidates off the trail and saps energy and resources,” Wasserman Schultz said Tuesday. “We need to make sure that there are many opportunities, and there will be. Our six debates will be among them.”
Questions from reporters focused on the quarrel around allegations that Wasserman Schultz disinvited Gabbard.
“We’re here to talk about the issues that we’ve been talking about this afternoon, so we’re happy to take questions about that,” Wasserman Schultz told a reporter who asked her about the controversy.
The reporter countered: “We are here to talk about the Republicans, but not about the Democrats.”
“We are talking about the contrasts, and the debate, and the focus of today is on our candidates, and that’s what we are here to answer questions about,” Wasserman Schultz coldly replied.
A few hours later, Wasserman Schultz rushed down a hallway in the Wynn resort with colleagues. As she walked by a room reserved for Sanders’ supporters to watch the event, one man who saw Wasserman Schultz yelled “DNC chair failure.”
The chairwoman kept moving, and said nothing.
