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Democratic candidates told: Get the donations if you want to debate

Usually donations are supposed to fund the campaign, but in this case it was the opposite.

The last debates featured 20 candidates over two nights.
The last debates featured 20 candidates over two nights.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Midnight was the deadline for Democratic presidential candidates hoping to participate in next month’s Democratic debate in Houston to qualify. The party raised the threshold: Candidates needed 2% support in four separate polls and at least 130,000 individual donors. Ten candidates made it through. The requirement is supposed to show grassroots support from donors, but campaigns on the fringe of qualifying were spending big bucks to attract those contributions.

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