Next Democratic debate will officially be a Biden-Sanders face-off

Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden.
(Image credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

It's time for the main event... before the actual main event.

The Democratic National Committee announced the rules for its March 15 debate on Friday, saying only candidates with more than 20 percent of the delegates doled out so far will appear onstage. That ensures only former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will get to face off, and removes Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) and her one delegate from the contest.

Biden, Gabbard, and Sanders are the only candidates left in the race for the Democratic nomination. Even if Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Michael Bloomberg hadn't dropped out after Super Tuesday, their delegate totals wouldn't have met the DNC's threshold.

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Rules for the last two debates, which allowed any candidate with at least one delegate onstage, would've allowed Gabbard to sneak in after she met that requirement in the American Samoa. Gabbard tweeted Thursday that she looked forward to debating about foreign policy, but now will have to keep those points to herself.

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Kathryn Krawczyk

Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.