JASON RANTZ
Rantz: CNN humiliates Jay Inslee campaign with no invite to climate debate
Aug 20, 2019, 5:57 AM | Updated: 7:55 am

Gov. Jay Inslee speaks during a forum on gun safety at the Iowa Events Center on August 10, 2019 in Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
(Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
There’s no way around this: Jay Inslee is about to suffer a humiliating blow. He hasn’t yet been invited to an upcoming CNN debate on climate change, the topic Inslee built his entire fledgling campaign on.
Rantz: With new polling at 0 percent, can anyone stop Jay Inslee?
Nine top-tier candidates will debate, including Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, former Vice President Joe Biden, and even businessman Andrew Yang. Inslee didn’t qualify thanks to his low polling.
In order to qualify, candidates must reach 2 percent in at least four approved polls between June 28 and Aug. 21. Axios notes Inslee has until Wednesday to qualify but it’s unlikely. Inslee can’t consistently get to 1 percent in national polls, let alone 2 percent.
The irony, of course, is Inslee was the leading voice calling for a climate change debate. And it’s not like Democratic voters disagree with him on this topic. Polls routinely say they care about this topic.
But they also routinely show their interest in literally any other candidate than Inslee on this topic. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib likely poll better in Tel Aviv than Inslee here. Literally any other candidate, including “someone else.” As far as polling is concerned, he’s lost on some astral plane with another Democratic loser: Marianne Williamson.
The news wasn’t all bad for Inslee this week. He raised the 130,000 individual donors he would need to land on the next Democratic debate stage. But, alas, he still needs the polls to get him there. He won’t get there.
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