Here we go. Tuesday and Wednesday nights, 20 self-appointed Democratic candidates for president will take on one another in the second two-round debate before the survivors get down to the real busines of gaining their party’s nomination.
For Democrats, it resembles Winston Churchill’s World War II description of the Allied victory at El Alamein in North Africa: not the end, not the beginning of the end — but “perhaps the end of the beginning” of the 2020 campaign.
The debates will be televised by CNN from Detroit. The broadcast will be notably longer than those in June, with a full two hours of actual debate time plus both opening and closing statements from the candidates.
“These debates … could show more confrontation between leading candidates, as they fight to raise their profiles — along with their polling numbers and donor figures — so they can make it to the next round, when the party’s higher thresholds for both these categories kicks in,” says CBS News.
Tuesday evening, most eyes will be on those candidates perceived as front-runners in this early stage, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, and South Bend, IN mayor Pete Buttigieg. Former vice president Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris of California will be on stage Wednesday.
Filling out the Tuesday Ten will be former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourke; Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota; the author Marianne Williamson; Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio; former Gov. John Hickenlooper of Colorado; former Rep John Delaney of Maryland, and Gov. Steve Bullock of Montana.
“For the first debate night … much of the pressure will be on Sanders to regain his footing after a June performance that was overshadowed by Harris and Biden,” says the Washington Post.
“Although Sanders will be onstage with Warren, campaign officials are advising him to focus on other targets, most notably Trump and Biden,” the Post adds.
Sanders and Warren are old friends, progressives who agree on many issues, including “Medicare for All.”
“Any clash between [Sanders and Warren] would be big news and a surprise to many political observers — but short of that, watch for whether Mr. Sanders works to sharpen his arguments against Mr. Biden,” says the New York Times.
Trump’s recent spate of tweets denouncing Democrats of color virtually guarantees that race relations will be a significant debate issue on both nights. Despite the racial and ethnic diversity of the current crop of Democratic candidates all 10 of those who will be on stage Tuesday are white.
“The ability to connect with black voters remains one of the biggest question marks for the three candidates at the center of the stage” — Sanders, Warren and Buttigieg, says the Times.
