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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