Democrats in Iowa and nationally have been worried all year that a more competitive GOP presidential campaign will boost Republican organizing and enthusiasm going into the 2016 general election.

Yet this week, while the Iowa GOP announced plans to help long-shot presidential candidates be heard on equal footing, the Democratic National Committee sharply limited opportunities for voters to compare the whole presidential field side by side.  

Republican Party of Iowa Chair Jeff Kaufmann published a guest column at Politico today titled, “It’s Time to Change the Iowa Straw Poll.” Key points:

The Iowa Straw Poll has grown into one of the largest grassroots events on the presidential nomination calendar, drawing tens of thousands of Caucus-going activists mere months before they’ll cast a Caucus vote. An unfortunate consequence of this growth was an explosion both in the cost for the Iowa GOP to host the event, as well for presidential candidates to participate in it. […]

Simply put, it is time to relegate the pay-to-play nature of the Iowa Straw Poll to the dustbin of history. (We’ll leave the “pay to play” politics to the Clintons.) Here in Iowa, so long as a Republican candidate can afford the plane ticket to Iowa, they are welcome in Boone on August 8. […]

First on the chopping block is the traditional candidate “land auction,” whereby campaigns bid for real estate on the straw poll grounds. In the past, candidates with the deepest pocketbooks secured prime real estate. This year, for the first time ever, campaigns will be provided space at the Iowa Straw Poll at no expense. The auction will be replaced by a random lottery draw. This removes the most significant cost barrier to participation and provides a candidate with an open space to make their case to Iowa voters.

We didn’t stop there. Previously, campaigns have had to engage in expensive culinary brinksmanship to provide most of the food for tens of thousands of hungry straw poll attendees. This not only added to the cost of candidate participation, but cheapened the straw poll as campaigns tried to win votes with local delicacies, not good ideas. We’re electing a president-not a Top Chef. The good news for you Iowa foodies is that the Iowa GOP will be hosting traditional Iowa State Fair-style vendors and local civic organizations. […]

Moving the Straw Poll from Ames to the Central Iowa Expo location in Boone also allows for the elimination of even more costs to candidates. Every lot provided free of charge to the candidates is already fully electrified, removing yet another obstacle for candidates who previously had to supply their own generators, electrical hook-ups, and infrastructure needs.

Smart, smart, smart. Now every Republican candidate will be able to address the large straw poll crowd without draining the campaign bank account. The results could be more meaningful too, if all candidates take advantage of the opportunity.

Meanwhile, leaders of the Democratic National Committee apparently believe our side’s voters should have fewer opportunities to compare and contrast the candidates. CNN reported on May 5 that the DNC will sanction only one debate in each of the four early states (Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina), plus two other debates in locations to be determined.

“Our debate schedule will not only give Democratic voters multiple opportunities to size up the candidates for the nomination side-by-side, but will give all Americans a chance to see a unified Democratic vision of economic opportunity and progress — no matter whom [sic] our nominee may be,” said DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz who confirmed debate details in a statement shortly after CNN broke this story.

The DNC will set the criteria for debate inclusion and any candidate who participates in a separate debate outside of the sanctioning process will be barred from future DNC debates, a Democratic official told CNN.

The official said that the DNC decided six debates was a reasonable number and in line with what the national committee sanctioned in 2008. The debate process won’t begin until the fall, according to the official, because that is “when voters are truly beginning to pay attention.”

What a horrible idea on many levels. This year I’ve talked to hundreds of politically active Iowa Democrats who look forward to seeing more of the presidential candidates. I imagine the same is true in the other states that fall early in the nominating calendar. Why prevent debates from starting soon after the field has been set?

Pat Rynard took apart the DNC’s “awful” debate plan at Iowa Starting Line. I agree entirely, especially with this part:

So few debates also lessens the amount of topics discussed. And considering the amount of constituencies the Democrats represent, that could really anger certain groups. There’s usually a mix of formats, some just asking topics-of-the-day, while others are specifically focused on the economy, foreign policy or issues like immigration. Will we have many issue-specific ones? Iowa’s famous Black and Brown Forum will almost certainly be on the chopping block. Will the DNC tailor the formats to Clinton’s strengths? Will they hold a trade-centered one that could allow Sanders and O’Malley to hit Clinton on the TPP? Will there be an urban-focused one where O’Malley could relate his successes with Baltimore?

Overall, the DNC’s plan for six debates is downright awful. Iowans and other early states will be miffed they only get one debate. Discussion on important topics will get reduced to one or two questions, rather than being fully explored in issue-specific formats. And while it may give the slight appearance of competition with Clinton on stage with other Democrats, it greatly undercuts the chance for anyone else to build a national profile and really challenge the front-runner.

The DNC’s debate plan is worse than a solution in search of a problem. It’s a solution exacerbating the problem of a primary campaign that looks decided before it’s begun. Hillary Clinton has an unassailable lead in almost all the state polling (including Quinnipiac’s latest Iowa survey, released today). She has a big head start on organizing and will surely have far more money to spend than all of the other Democratic candidates combined.

Debates are one inexpensive way for other candidates to get their message out to voters who are most engaged in the process. A strong debate performance can create a buzz and help drive media coverage toward different ideas and issues. All of the potential Democratic candidates seem to have a solid understanding of public policy. Debates focusing on a smaller range of topics would allow them to go beyond sound bites and would give voters a better grasp of where they differ in their approach.

How Wasserman Schultz can pretend that this debate plan is good for Democrats is completely beyond me. The only thing I feel good about is having said no to all solicitations from the DNC for the last several election cycles.

Any relevant comments are welcome in this thread.

UPDATE: Des Moines Register columnist Kathie Obradovich doesn’t see the Iowa GOP’s moves lowering the cost to participate in the straw poll by much. From her column for the Sunday Des Moines Register on May 10:

Other campaign operatives I talked to Thursday and Friday said it was a nice gesture by the party, but it doesn’t put much of a dent in the cost of competing. It’s sort of like getting 10 percent off if you spend $150,000 on a new Maserati. It’s not necessarily going to get you into the driver’s seat today.

That’s because candidates who are seriously trying to win the poll would still likely buy thousands of tickets for supporters, at $25 each for advance sales. Then there’s a cost to rent buses to bring supporters to Boone from all over the state. If candidates are serious, they’d better be reserving those coaches now. Most campaigns have provided food, entertainment and T-shirts for supporters. They rent golf carts to shuttle staff and VIPs. Some have paid for air-conditioning. That’s well over $100,000 even before a campaign starts identifying supporters and advertising. […]

The real cost of the straw poll can’t be discounted. For top-tier candidates, the straw poll remains a high-stakes expectations game that could rattle or even crash a campaign that misses the mark.

“It kind of sounds to me like nothing’s really changed,” said Chuck Laudner, longtime Iowa political operative. Top-tier candidates still have to decide whether to risk coming in eighth. “It’s up to the candidates whether there’s a straw poll,” he said.