As the dust settles in Iowa, voters across the country are about to get a closer look at presidential candidates on both sides, with the schedule of primary debates expected to pick up in the coming weeks.
GOP White House hopefuls will return to the debate stage Saturday in New Hampshire, the site of next week’s crucial primary election. The Republican National Committee has sanctioned four additional debates after Saturday’s forum, including two more in February.
On the Democratic side, the debate schedule remains chaotic. The campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernard Sanders are clashing over the dates and locations of three theoretical debates later this primary season. The two camps — along with former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, who for months has pushed for additional debates — have agreed in principle to a Thursday night forum in New Hampshire, but it’s not yet set in stone.
The Democratic National Committee said it intends to nail down plans for Thursday’s debate following Monday’s Iowa caucuses.
After initially refusing to take part in any debates beyond the original six scheduled by the DNC — including two upcoming events, on Feb. 11 and March 9 — Mrs. Clinton seems to have rethought her strategy amid a stronger-than-expected challenge from Mr. Sanders.
Political analysts say that’s largely because she now recognizes many voters in the Democratic Party see her as the embodiment of the political establishment, content to appear onstage alongside her rivals as little as possible.
The close nature of the race, according to Dante Scala, a political science professor at the University of New Hampshire, may have upset the DNC’s plans “to play it safe and insulate” Mrs. Clinton, requiring a higher-risk strategy now.
“If she wins Iowa, I think things are fine. Then I think we look back and say, ’Well, the debate schedule was a minor thing.’ If she loses Iowa, then there will be a lot of finger-pointing and [people saying], ’Well, she played it too safe, and look what happened,’” Mr. Scala said.
In addition to the possible Thursday debate in New Hampshire, the Sanders and Clinton campaigns have agreed to three additional debates to take place in California, Michigan and New York. Both camps say they’re willing to participate in the three forums — to be held in March, April and May — but are still hashing out the details.
Mr. Sanders has said his participation Thursday night is contingent on the DNC finalizing the other three debates.
“We will give our campaigns the space to focus on the important work of engaging caucusgoers in Iowa. We will reconvene negotiations and finalize the schedule with the agreement of our campaigns on Tuesday morning,” the DNC said in a statement over the weekend.
On the GOP side, this weekend’s New Hampshire debate will be followed by a Feb. 13 event in South Carolina and a Feb. 25 forum in Houston. Two March debates — including a March 10 forum in Miami co-sponsored by The Washington Times — also are on the calendar.
Specialists say the Republican primary debates could become especially important down the stretch as the field of candidates thins.
“It will get easier to manage the debates when there are fewer candidates. Voters will be in a stronger position to distinguish the candidates and figure out where they differ. It also will be easier for journalists to summarize the debates and declare winners,” said Darrell West, vice president and director of governance studies at the Brookings Institution.
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
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