WASHINGTON — In the days after the first Democratic presidential debates, spread over Wednesday and Thursday nights, five rivals will vault to Chicago, with surging Sen. Elizabeth Warren hosting a town hall at Roosevelt University on Friday night, marking her 2020 campaign debut in the city.
Each debate night will feature 10 candidates. For those scoring only 1% or less in polls, wrangling time for a decent elevator pitch may be a victory.
“Two total hours. Ten candidates on stage, with another ten coming the next night. Sixty-second answers. Thirty-second retorts. Multiple moderators. Commercial breaks.
“Do the math, and it comes out to somewhere between 7 and 11 minutes of total speaking time for each candidate,” Sen. Cory Booker’s campaign manager, Addisu Demissie said in a Tuesday memo.
The goal of Booker — and for everyone else who is not Warren, Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg — is to introduce themselves to voters paying attention for what might be the first time.
You knew this, but here’s the obvious just in case: frontrunner former Vice President Biden has the most to lose. He comes into the debates vulnerable on race relations and abortion.
Here’s a guide:
WHEN, WHERE, WHO’S IN CHARGE: The Democratic National Committee selected the host networks for debates and the ground rules.
NBC News, MSNBC and Telemundo are the first debate hosts. The debates take place in Miami’s Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in the swing state of Florida. The three networks will telecast the debates live from 8 to 10 p.m. Chicago time.
To qualify for the debates, the DNC said candidates either had to score at least 1% support in three qualifying polls or prove they have 65,000 donors with at least 200 contributors in 20 states.
MODERATORS: NBC’s “Nightly News” anchor Lester Holt is the ringmaster both nights. In the first hour each night Holt is joined by “Today” show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie and José Diaz-Balart, a Telemundo anchor. In the second hour, Holt is on stage with “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd and MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow.
CNN hosts the second set of debates on July 30, 31 in Detroit.
THE LINEUPS: The candidates polling the best were given the plum stage positions; the four in the center have the best chances of being in the TV shots. The one-percenters are on the ends.
According to NBC, on Wednesday, the line starts with New York Mayor Bill de Blasio; Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio; former HUD Secretary Julian Castro; Booker, the New Jersey senator; Warren, the Massachusetts senator; Beto O’Rouke, the former Texas House member; Amy Klobuchar, the Minnesota senator; Tulsi Gabbard, a Hawaii House member; Jay Inslee, the Washington State governor; and John Delaney, the former Maryland House member.
On Thursday, author Marianne Williamson is at one end, followed by former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper; business executive Andrew Yang; South Bend Mayor Buttigieg; Biden; Sanders, the Vermont senator; Kamala Harris, the California senator; Kirsten Gillibrand, the New York senator; Michael Bennett, the Colorado senator; and Eric Swawell, a California House member.
HOT TOPICS: Climate change, gun control, electability, beating up Trump, health care, immigration, abortion, Iran and college costs. Warren and Sanders each have plans to forgive student college debt. Warren wants it tied to income; Sanders does not.
Anything having to do with tuition-free public college or tech school, student loan reform and crippling debt is big for Democrats aiming to turn out younger voters. Adam Green, a co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee — backing Warren — said the issue serves to “motivate the Democratic base and swing voters or less likely voters who might not normally vote Democratic.”
CHICAGO STOPS: Sanders drew thousands to a Navy Pier rally in March, until Warren’s visit, the only public stop of a 2020 candidate. Others have been in for private fundraisers, which Warren does not do.
Warren’s Friday night town hall is at Roosevelt’s Auditorium Theater. Biden on Friday delivers remarks at a Rainbow PUSH coalition labor luncheon at the Chicago Teachers Union headquarters, 1901 W. Carroll Ave., ticket purchase required.
On Saturday, Warren is at a free Rainbow PUSH morning forum at the Apostolic Faith Church, 3823 S. Indiana Ave. Also on Saturday, Klobuchar hits Winnetka for an afternoon fundraiser; the tab runs from $250 to $2,800.
On Monday, de Blasio delivers remarks at a Rainbow PUSH health breakfast at the Sheraton Grand Hotel Chicago, ticket required. On Tuesday, Buttigieg is at a Rainbow PUSH business breakfast at the Sheraton, ticket required.
POLLS: According to a POLITICO/Morning Consult survey taken June 17-23, with a margin of error of plus or minus a point: Biden, 38%; Sanders, 19%; Warren, 13%; Buttigieg, 7%; Harris, 6%; O’Rourke, 4%; Booker, 3%; Yang, 2%; and everyone else at 1% or less.
