Republicans and even some Democrats have charged the Democratic National Committee with trying to hide their presidential primary debates in order to protect front-runner Hillary Clinton, and so far, viewership numbers appear to confirm the DNC’s plan is working.
Ratings data for the first three Democratic debates, which began in October, show that the events are averaging 10.6 million viewers. Full ratings for Sunday night’s debate weren’t available as of mid-day Monday.
In comparison, the Republicans have had six debates starting in August, and those events are averaging 17.3 million viewers. The first GOP debate garnered 24 million viewers, the most for a primary debate ever.
Many political observers have attributed all or most of the public’s interest in the GOP debates to the presence of Donald Trump, whose knack for showmanship and willingness to say just about anything has added an air of unpredictability to the events.
But the DNC scheduled far fewer debates, six to the GOP’s 12, and they were booked on days that were likely to have lower ratings. Two were on Saturdays, and one of those was the Saturday before Christmas. The latest one was on Sunday after two big playoff football games.
Still, in an interview on Sunday, DNC Chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz maintained that the Democratic debate schedule was sufficient, and that “there’s no number of debates that will satisfy everyone.”
“I did my best to make sure,” Wasserman Schultz said on CNN, “along with my staff and along with our debate partners, to come up with a schedule that we felt was going to … maximize the opportunity for voters to see our candidates.”
