NBC News announced their criteria for participation in the third Democratic debate, and the former Maryland governor is in serious jeopardy of missing the threshold.
Candidates must achieve an average of at least five percent either nationally or in one of the first primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina in order to receive an invitation to the January 17 debate. NBC News, which is hosting the debate, has a list of the polls it will consider to determine candidates’ poll average.
Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are both polling well above 5 percent in every poll, but former Governor O’Malley has struggled to eclipse low single digits. The RealClearPolitics average has O’Malley at 6.3 percent in Iowa, but just 2.3 percent in New Hampshire and 2.5 percent in South Carolina. Nationally, he is averaging 3.5 percent. If he dips at all in Iowa, or doesn’t pick up a head of steam in one of the other states, don’t expect to see him next weekend.