美国总统乔·拜登(Joe Biden)成功挡开了对手要求他参加初选辩论的电话，这在最近的记忆中是前所未有的。
迄今为止，民主党人选择不理会针对他的主要挑战，民主党全国委员会支持拜登。虽然党内一些人批评该组织和拜登因为假定他是事实上的被提名人而“不民主”，但坐以待毙是有先例的:自1948年举行第一次现代辩论以来，没有一位在任总统参加过初选辩论，即使面对高调的初选挑战者。
随着前总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)寻求在2020年连任，共和党全国委员会(Republican National Committee)没有举行初选辩论，前总统巴拉克·奥巴马(Barack Obama)在第二次竞选期间也没有举行初选辩论。同样的模式可以追溯到杰拉尔德·福特。
今天，民主党人没有表现出改变路线的迹象。
拜登的候选人资格正受到两名民主党人小罗伯特·F·肯尼迪和玛丽安娜·威廉森的挑战，他们对民主党全国委员会预计将团结在现任总统身后的决定持批评态度。
小肯尼迪称缺乏辩论是“不幸的”。
在上一轮公开初选中参选的威廉姆森长期以来一直指责民主党全国委员会“操纵”对她的竞争。在最近出版的《新闻周刊》上论坛版题为“辩论我们，总统先生，”威廉姆森说，拜登和民主党全国委员会正在进行候选人压制。
“人民有权听取其他候选人的意见，他们有不同的想法。在我们的历史上，现在不是人们默许任何形式的控制会影响我们的生活和我们孩子的生活的时候。压制候选人是压制选民的一种形式，自称是民主捍卫者的政党不应该在我们自己的家中如此警惕，”威廉姆森写道。“民主党必须允许拜登总统与他的对手辩论。我们民主的命运危在旦夕，只有更多的民主才能拯救它。”
没有高层机构的支持，没有选民的认可或欢迎，没有党内官员对有争议的初选的真正兴趣，威廉姆森和肯尼迪都不太可能成为被提名人。
周四，在拜登之后，推特前首席执行官和联合创始人杰克·多西也呼吁举行初选辩论被沙袋绊倒在美国空军学院毕业典礼上，促使一些评论家质疑他的健康状况。
“开启民主党初选和辩论。这对任何人都不公平，”多尔西在推特上写道，他分享了一段摔倒的视频。
一部分公众也有类似的担忧。根据最新调查，62%-33%的美国人表示，他们认为拜登的身体健康状况不够好，无法有效地担任总统ABC新闻/华盛顿邮报民意调查。
当政治在2022年8月问及他们可能如何应对初选挑战时，民主党全国委员会执行主任萨姆·科尔内尔直言不讳地说:“我们支持拜登。句号。”
该小组还一致通过在二月份的冬季会议上，一项决议表达了对拜登和副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯连任的“完全和彻底的支持”。
No incumbent president has participated in a primary debate since Ford. Democrats want to keep it that way.
President Joe Biden has successfully fended off calls from his opponents for him to participate in primary debates, a move that would be unprecedented in recent memory.
Democrats have so far opted to tune out the primary challenges levied against him, with the Democratic National Committee throwing its support behind Biden. And while some in the party have criticized the organization and Biden as "un-democratic" for presuming he’s the de facto nominee, there’s precedent in sitting it out: No incumbent president has participated in a primary debate since the first modern debate was held in 1948, even when presented with high-profile primary challengers.
As former President Donald Trump sought re-election in 2020, the Republican National Committee didn’t hold primary debates, nor did former President Barack Obama during his second bid. The same pattern can be traced as far back as Gerald Ford.
And Democrats today show no signs of changing course.
Biden’s candidacy is being challenged by two Democrats, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Marianne Williamson, who have remained critical of the DNC’s expected decision to unite behind the incumbent president.
Kennedy, Jr. has called the lack of debates "unfortunate."
Williamson, who ran in the open primary last cycle, has long accused the DNC of "rigging" the contest against her. In a recently published Newsweek op-ed titled "Debate Us, Mr. President," Williamson said Biden and the DNC were engaging in candidate suppression.
"The people have a right to hear from other candidates, with other ideas. This is not a time in our history for people to acquiesce to any form of control over things that will affect our lives and the lives of our children. Candidate suppression is a form of voter suppression, and the party that purports to be the champion of democracy should not be so wary of it in our own house," wrote Williamson. "The Democratic Party must allow President Biden to debate his opponents. The fate of our democracy is at stake, and only more democracy can save it."
Without top-level institutional support, name recognition or popularity among voters or a real appetite among party officials for a contested primary, neither Williamson nor Kennedy is likely to become the nominee.
The call to hold primary debates was even echoed by former CEO and co-founder of Twitter Jack Dorsey on Thursday after Biden after Biden tripped on a sandbag during the U.S. Air Force Academy graduation ceremonies, spurring some critics to question his fitness.
"Open the Democrat primaries and debates. This isn’t fair to anyone," Dorsey wrote on Twitter as he shared a video of the fall.
A portion of the public shares similar concerns, too. Americans said they thought Biden is not in good enough physical health to serve effectively as president by 62%-33%, according to the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll.
When asked by Politico in August 2022 about how they might deal with a primary challenge, DNC executive director Sam Cornale put it bluntly: "We're with Biden. Period."
The group also unanimously passed a resolution during their February winter meeting expressing its "full and complete support" for a second term for Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
