In June I listed the candidates who were included in the first Democratic debate. As I said at the time in previous elections I listed anyone who announced his or her candidacy and had a web page. Frankly, it drove me crazy as those two criteria included a large population of people who just weren’t adequately medicated.

This year I decided to list only Democrats (as the Republicans have lined up for President Trump’s re-election) and only those Democrats who did well enough to be included in the debates. The first round included 20 candidates split over two days: July 30th and 31st.

Since then a few candidates dropped out and the Democrats have tightened the rules. Today we learned that only 10 candidates have qualified for the next debate on September 13th.

Here’s the list:

• Joe Biden
• Cory Booker
• Pete Buttigieg
• Julien Castro
• Kamala Harris
• Amy Klobuchar
• Beto O’Rourke
• Bernie Sanders
• Elizabeth Warren
• Andrew Yang

Some of those not on this list haven’t given up their campaign, and I know their exclusion angers them, but we need to admit that their chances of winning the nomination defy reality.

As for me, I subscribe to the NPR Politics podcast. Each week they interview a candidate and I find these interviews fascinating. I recommend that everyone who reads this subscribe to this podcast.

Stay tuned.