Tulsi Gabbard Rips 'Subjective, Non-Transparent' DNC for Ignoring Her Recent Polling
Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard accused the Democratic National Committee of bias on Friday for not recognizing a poll that showed her with her highest polling to date.
The Suffolk/Globe poll, taken by Suffolk University in partnership with the Boston Globe, showed Gabbard polling at 6 percent.
That level of support is far beyond the 1.3 percent average support shown in the RealClearPolitics average of polls, although several November polls showed her at either 2 percent or 3 percent support.
Part of the requirement to qualify for the Democratic presidential debate in December is getting at least 4 percent support in four of the polls the Democratic National Committee has recognized or hitting 6 percent support in two early-state polls recognized by the DNC, according to Axios. The Suffolk/Globe poll is not one of those polls, however.
Former Vice President Joe Biden, South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and Sens. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Kamala Harris of California have already qualified for the Dec. 19 debate.
In a statement released Friday, Gabbard said the omission of the polling that showed her doing well was deliberate.
“Again, this is another example of the DNC being arbitrary and inconsistent. New Hampshire is the first in the nation presidential primary, but the DNC has not shown its voters the respect they deserve,” Gabbard said in an email to supporters.
The Hawaii congresswoman said the DNC is being run by “party elites.”
“The Boston Globe is the largest newspaper in New Hampshire. The pollster the Globe uses is recognized by the DNC for other media outlets, there is no reason the DNC should not recognize this Boston Globe poll, other than adherence to a subjective, non-transparent process where party elites try to dictate to the primary voters,” she said.
Gabbard’s statement noted that Suffolk University polling is allowed when it works with USA Today, but not the Boston Globe, because USA Today is an official debate partner.
When people attack @TulsiGabbard, and defend the @DNC’s arbitrary and unexplained reasoning for how they deem some polls qualifying and others not so, it seems they often run “marketing” companies, are consultants or have other uniquely establishment friendly gigs/ jobs…
— Cullen Tiernan ?? (@CullenYossarian) November 30, 2019
✅ Veteran
✅ Woman
✅ Minority
✅ Lifelong Dem
✅ Crossover appeal to Independents, Libertarians, Republicans
The Dem Establishment shld be excited about my candidacy. But they’d rather lose to Trump than win with me, cuz they can’t control me & that scares the hell out of them pic.twitter.com/wTWBGlwumo— Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard) December 1, 2019
Gabbard, who has cast herself as an outsider, has frequently attacked the DNC for its debate rules.
Last month, Gabbard issued a statement in which she accused the “DNC and its corporate media allies” of “trying to kind of hold a pre-primary election before you, the voters, have the opportunity to vote yourselves, especially those voters in the early states,” according to Fox News.
“I hope that the DNC hears this message loud and clear, gets out of the way just to allow voters to exercise your responsibility and your right to vote so that it is nothing but your voices that are heard in this election,” she said.
Gabbard has also used her campaign to repeatedly call out Hillary Clinton, who labeled Gabbard as a tool of Russian interests.
“What is so concerning about what Hillary Clinton is doing here is, she is not only calling me a traitor, she is not only trying to smear my character, she is sending a warning to every veteran, every single American, anyone who stands up against the war-mongering foreign policies that really are her legacy,” Gabbard said.
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