CNN released its debate criteria on Monday and the requirements make it easy for Vice President Joe Biden to jump into the debate as late as the day of the event.
As long as a candidate is polling at at least 1 percent in three national polls, he or she will be able to enter the debate as late as Oct. 13th as long as they’ve officially declared their candidacy.
Biden is polling way above 1 percent in polls and will reportedly make his decision on whether to run in early October, which would align with the debate schedule.
Anderson Cooper will moderate the first Democratic debate, which CNN is airing in partnership with Facebook.
Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Martin O’Malley, Lincoln Chaffee and Jim Webb are scheduled to debate.