Sen. Amy Klobuchar said Wednesday she’s on the cusp of securing enough individual donors to qualify for the next Democratic presidential debate in September, hinting that an announcement on that front could be coming Thursday.
“I will be there,” the Minnesota Democrat said on CNN’s “New Day.” “Hopefully we can make an announcement tomorrow that we’re there with the donors. We’ve already crossed the poll threshold.”
She said she felt good about her performance at Tuesday’s debate in Detroit, when she and other candidates pushed back against the more liberal visions of Sens. Bernard Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts on issues like health care.
“I did get to make the case on Trump — I did it several times,” she said. “I was glad I had this moment to talk about guns. Coming from a hunting state like I do, I think it’s really important to have someone talk about what’s going on right now with these mass shootings.”
Ms. Klobuchar was one of 10 Democratic presidential candidates who debated on Tuesday, and 10 more will get their opportunity on Wednesday.
The Democratic National Committee has stepped up its contribution and polling requirements for the next debate in Houston, which could feature roughly half the number of candidates.
Candidates have to secure contributions from 130,000 individual donors and register 2% support in at least four polls to qualify for the next debate. They had to secure 65,000 contributions, or hit 1% in three polls, to make the stage for the first debate in Miami and the second debate in Detroit.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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