The Democratic National Committee has set its qualifying thresholds for the Feb. 25 debate in South Carolina, and for the second time in a row, the party is setting rules that would provide former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg with a path to the stage.
Candidates can qualify based on either polling requirements or delegate thresholds from previous state nominating contests. But candidates don't have to meet both.
On polling, candidates must reach 10% support in at least four national polls or some combination of four polls taken nationally and in South Carolina. They also could qualify by reaching 12% in just two South Carolina polls. Any qualifying polls must be released publicly between Feb. 4 and Feb. 24.
Candidates also could qualify if they've earned a delegate in any previous contest. From Iowa and New Hampshire, that qualifies Pete Buttigieg, Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren.
Bloomberg is skipping the four early states, so has no delegates. But the billionaire businessman is approaching the polling thresholds.
The rules are patterned after those that the party's chairman, Tom Perez, already announced for Wednesday’s debate in Nevada.
Perez took some heat for dropping as a requirement having a minimum number of grassroots donors.
Bloomberg isn’t raising any money and is relying on his personal fortune, and never could have qualified under such rules. But Perez also has gotten pressure from some campaigns that want Bloomberg on the debate stage to face the same scrutiny that other candidates have endured for months.
Bloomberg hasn't yet qualified for the Nevada debate. There's a Tuesday deadline to meet the requirements.Â
CBS News will air the South Carolina debate live.Â
(Associated Press contributed to this report.)
