Add Massachusetts Democratic Party Vice Chairwoman Deb Kozikowski to the growing list of members who are disappointed in Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s stewardship of the presidential nomination process.
Kozikowski and other Democrats are upset with Wasserman Schultz’s edict that there will only be six DNC-sanctioned debates, and any candidates who participate in unsanctioned debates will be penalized, as a NewBostonPost story recently outlined.
“How do I tell these really dedicated Democrats who work really hard from top to bottom that debates for our presidential candidates are restricted, and they’re there watching all these Republicans get all this air time?” Kozikowski told the Globe. “I think about the folks at the grass roots who work day in day out, no money no glory, because they believe in democracy with a small ‘d’ and the Democratic Party with a large ‘D,’ getting bombarded with all these Republican candidates.”
Candidates who participate in non-sanctioned debates will be banned from participating in DNC-sanctioned debates, according to Wasserman Schultz. The party has yet to hold an official debate while the Republican National Committee held its first debate in August, with another one slated for Wednesday.
Democratic presidential hopeful and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley has alleged that the dearth of debates means the process is “rigged” to favor higher profile candidates like Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state who has maintained a lead in the national polls.
The polls also show that self-described socialist U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, has gained significant ground on Clinton and has even leaped past her in both Iowa and New Hampshire.
Debbie Wasserman Schultz – Courtesy of Flickr 
