5 ms·

Ha ha ha ha, no. He qualifies for the first debate because the DNC allows him to. If they didn’t want him there, they’d bend and rewrite the rules to prevent it

Ha ha ha ha, no. He qualifies for the first debate because the DNC allows him to. If they didn’t want him there, they’d bend and rewrite the rules to prevent it. Witness Larry Lessig’s experience with this: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vox.com/platform/amp/2015/11/2/9659014/lawrence-lessig-quits-presidential https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vox.com/platform/amp/2015/1...

apearson 8y ago
Non-amp link: https://www.vox.com/2015/11/2/9659014/lawrence-lessig-quits-presidential https://www.vox.com/2015/11/2/9659014/lawrence-lessig-quits-...
- i_am_nomad 8y ago
  Thank you, I’m sorry about that.
ForHackernews 8y ago
Lessig was never a serious candidate. I'm not sure what your point is: Obviously the Democratic party decides who they invite to a debate that they're hosting.
- i_am_nomad 8y ago
  If the DNC sets a policy that candidates meeting certain objective criteria can debate, they should uphold that policy. Otherwise they should be transparent about how candidates are admitted.
colpabar 8y ago
Maybe they don't want to turn him into a martyr like they did with Bernie. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/11/2/16599036/donna-brazile-hillary-clinton-sanders https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/11/2/16599036/d...
- jessaustin 8y ago
  Martyrdom is easy to avoid. They could have just not rigged the game against Bernie, then he would have won all the caucus states, he would have won California, he would have won at the convention, and he would have beaten Trump handily.
pastor_elm 8y ago
They are allowing 20 people on stage. At a certain point, you have to cut off the line.
- beat 8y ago
  I'm fine with saying "top twenty candidates". And I like the idea of splitting it into two debates and randomly selecting who goes where, rather than the "kiddie table" nonsense the GOP did with their large field in 2015.
  - arcticfox 8y ago
    As a detractor of many of the "kiddie table" participants in 2015, I did have some schadenfreude at the whole situation at least, so there was that redeeming quality. But no candidate really deserves to be treated that way, so I also like the idea of randomly splitting.
- thanatropism 8y ago
  The Republican Party had daytime ("junior varsity", as 538 put it) and nighttime debates during their crowded primaries in 15/early 16.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
YUMad 8y ago
Also, the donation counter on his page was fake - it was simply a time-based counter done in JS, and the code took the time from local PC, not the server - if you'd change time on your pc to future (couple days) and refresh the page, donation count would go up.
- arcticfox 8y ago
  I've read that this is standard practice because they only get authorized counts from the DNC once every 24hrs. So it's just an estimate that is reconciled daily.
snowwrestler 8y ago
My recollection is that Lessig was pretty clear from the start that he was running just to raise the prominence of his position on campaign finance, not to actually become president. IIRC he said he would resign after passing one bill. I can see why party leadership would choose not to participate in what was, from their perspective, a stunt--not a serious campaign for the White House.
- weatherlight 8y ago
  I don't understand why the above comment was downvoted.
- millettjon 8y ago
  The point is that they changed the rules out from under him.
  - Latteland 8y ago
    It's correct that they changed the rules to exclude him and most people don't like that in principal. But it's also true that he was not a serious candidate because he said he wanted one bill passed and then he'd resign the presidency, and that one bill wouldn't make it through congress anyway.
    - dllthomas 8y ago
      > that one bill wouldn't make it through congress anyway To be fair to Lessig, if the single issue "pass this bill" candidate was actually elected President, congress would feel a lot of pressure to comply.
      - Latteland 8y ago
        Why would congress feel pressure just to do what the president wants? Presidents claim all kinds of mandates when they are elected, congress often goes it's own way.

apearson 8y ago

Non-amp link: https://www.vox.com/2015/11/2/9659014/lawrence-lessig-quits-presidential https://www.vox.com/2015/11/2/9659014/lawrence-lessig-quits-...

i_am_nomad 8y ago
Thank you, I’m sorry about that.

ForHackernews 8y ago

Lessig was never a serious candidate. I'm not sure what your point is: Obviously the Democratic party decides who they invite to a debate that they're hosting.

i_am_nomad 8y ago
If the DNC sets a policy that candidates meeting certain objective criteria can debate, they should uphold that policy. Otherwise they should be transparent about how candidates are admitted.

colpabar 8y ago

Maybe they don't want to turn him into a martyr like they did with Bernie. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/11/2/16599036/donna-brazile-hillary-clinton-sanders https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/11/2/16599036/d...

jessaustin 8y ago
Martyrdom is easy to avoid. They could have just not rigged the game against Bernie, then he would have won all the caucus states, he would have won California, he would have won at the convention, and he would have beaten Trump handily.

pastor_elm 8y ago

They are allowing 20 people on stage. At a certain point, you have to cut off the line.

beat 8y ago
I'm fine with saying "top twenty candidates". And I like the idea of splitting it into two debates and randomly selecting who goes where, rather than the "kiddie table" nonsense the GOP did with their large field in 2015.
- arcticfox 8y ago
  As a detractor of many of the "kiddie table" participants in 2015, I did have some schadenfreude at the whole situation at least, so there was that redeeming quality. But no candidate really deserves to be treated that way, so I also like the idea of randomly splitting.
thanatropism 8y ago
The Republican Party had daytime ("junior varsity", as 538 put it) and nighttime debates during their crowded primaries in 15/early 16.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

YUMad 8y ago

Also, the donation counter on his page was fake - it was simply a time-based counter done in JS, and the code took the time from local PC, not the server - if you'd change time on your pc to future (couple days) and refresh the page, donation count would go up.

arcticfox 8y ago
I've read that this is standard practice because they only get authorized counts from the DNC once every 24hrs. So it's just an estimate that is reconciled daily.

snowwrestler 8y ago

My recollection is that Lessig was pretty clear from the start that he was running just to raise the prominence of his position on campaign finance, not to actually become president. IIRC he said he would resign after passing one bill. I can see why party leadership would choose not to participate in what was, from their perspective, a stunt--not a serious campaign for the White House.

weatherlight 8y ago
I don't understand why the above comment was downvoted.
millettjon 8y ago
The point is that they changed the rules out from under him.
- Latteland 8y ago
  It's correct that they changed the rules to exclude him and most people don't like that in principal. But it's also true that he was not a serious candidate because he said he wanted one bill passed and then he'd resign the presidency, and that one bill wouldn't make it through congress anyway.
  - dllthomas 8y ago
    > that one bill wouldn't make it through congress anyway To be fair to Lessig, if the single issue "pass this bill" candidate was actually elected President, congress would feel a lot of pressure to comply.
    - Latteland 8y ago
      Why would congress feel pressure just to do what the president wants? Presidents claim all kinds of mandates when they are elected, congress often goes it's own way.