The real test for Hillary Clinton is the first debate of the primaries..

[Jim Lane]

20. Of course candidates make the call.

Candidates are free to participate in any debates they want to.

The Wasserman-Shultz scheme is to set up, for the first time, an Official Party Power Structure Approved Debate Schedule, which would provide cover for any candidate who wanted to stay out of other debates.

Undeniable facts:
* Per standard political wisdom, having more debates helps challengers, because it at least gives them a chance to break through, while front-runners prefer few or no debates.
* Hillary Clinton is currently the clear front-runner.
* Most of the Democratic Party leadership supports Clinton.
* The draft plan that's been circulated would cut debates from more than two dozen in 2008 to six.

I don't think this development is coincidence. Wasserman-Shultz and her cronies are trying to put a big fat thumb on the scales, on Clinton's side.

As for the candidates' role: If Clinton announces that she'll again accept a robust debate schedule -- perhaps recalling that in 2008 she criticized Obama for not debating more (when Obama had become the front-runner, fancy that) -- and that she won't confine herself to the mere half-dozen approved by the DNC, then that plan would die. Immediately.

So please don't try to tell us that Clinton is helpless and just reading about it in the newspaper.