CNN plans to use a live drawing to pick candidates for the Democratic presidential primary debates

Networks broadcast the NFL draft and the brackets for the NCAA’s March Madness, so why not debate lineups?

CNN announced Monday morning that it will broadcast a live drawing to select the lineups for two nights of Democratic presidential primary debates on July 30 and July 31. The network will carry the second pair of debates from Detroit.

As the first debates from Miami showed, the lineups matter: Kamala Harris was on stage with Joe Biden for her breakout moment challenging him on busing, a brief exchange that has reverberated for almost two weeks.

Likewise, Elizabeth Warren was the only top-5 candidate on stage the first night, allowing her to dominate the event.

The drawing will be aired on CNN on July 18 in the 8 p.m. hour, the network said. The 20 candidates invited to participate in one of the July debates will be notified by the Democratic National Committee and CNN on the evening of July 17.

—Bloomberg