And then, there were 10…
That’s still too many, but we’re getting there.
On Thursday, ABC News and Univision will host the third round of televised debates among contenders for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.
The first rounds each featured two debates, on back-to-back nights, hosting 10 candidates each. This time, we are blessedly down to 10, for one night only.
The field has been too large, for too long. Too many people beating up on too many people. Too many offering up red meat for President Donald J. Trump’s Twitter feed.
To qualify for this debate, the Democratic National Committee required that candidates have 130,000 individual campaign donors and a minimum of 2 percent support in at least four selected national polls.
Ten of the 20 announced candidates failed to make the cut.
There are still too many hangers-on, candidates with no chance at the nomination, just trying to goose their name recognition and grab prestige.
The show goes on. Six things to watch on Thursday:
Less is not necessarily more.
While we dodged the two-night format, this debate will be three. hours. long.
Look for some candidates to deliver carefully crafted canned lines designed to go viral.
The lower-tier aspirants will grandstand and go negative, in desperate attempts to stand out and stay viable.
It’s Biden time.
Former Vice-President Joe Biden will stand at center stage, for better and worse. He enjoys a national poll average of 30 percent, according to Real Clear Politics, putting him far above the rest.
Biden delivered middling-to-poor performances in the earlier debates. His imprecise delivery and decades-long tendency to commit gaffes will be on painful display.
The slog to win the left.
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont are neck-and neck for second place, posting polling averages of 17.6 and 16.9, respectively. They are also fiercely competing to carry the progressive torch.
Warren has cleverly let Bernie be Bernie. In past debates, she said nice things about her “friend” as he flailed away. Off stage, she is sending clear signals to Democratic Party moderates that she is “no socialist” and wants to work with them. She will sharpen that message.
The issues.
The harrowing stories that are churning the news cycle offer plenty to explore. The gun control debate has been revived, sparked by two mass shootings in Texas that killed and injured dozens.
Candidates will jump on climate change and its connection to impending natural calamities. Hurricane Dorian, which decimated the northern Bahamas and terrorized the U.S. East Coast, will be top of mind.
Money, money, money?
The economy has been a bugaboo for the Democrats. Friday’s job numbers indicate it’s still going strong. The unemployment rate stands at 3.7 percent, the lowest level in decades.
If the economy stays afloat, President Donald J. Trump could well get reelected. The debaters must make the delicate case that a recession is coming, without looking delighted by the prospect.
African American voters hold sway.
A key to Biden’s strength lies with black voters. They are crucial to a Biden win in the crucial South Carolina primary.
Older black voters credit Biden for his longevity, experience and service to President Barack Obama.
Two prominent African American senators, Kamala Harris of California and Cory Booker of New Jersey, must change that equation. Harris tried that in her first debate, when she attacked Biden for his civil rights record. It didn’t work.
They aren’t giving up.
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