{"id":199569,"date":"2019-12-19T22:32:24","date_gmt":"2019-12-19T22:32:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/smaller-stage-and-sense-of-urgency-could-spark-fireworks-at-thursdays-2020-debate.html"},"modified":"2019-12-19T22:32:24","modified_gmt":"2019-12-19T22:32:24","slug":"smaller-stage-and-sense-of-urgency-could-spark-fireworks-at-thursdays-2020-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/political\/smaller-stage-and-sense-of-urgency-could-spark-fireworks-at-thursdays-2020-debate.html","title":{"rendered":"Smaller stage and sense of urgency could spark fireworks at Thursday\u2019s 2020 debate"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"OnlyVideo<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Only 7 candidates have qualified for next Democratic debate<\/a><\/h4>\n

Who stands the best chance? Democratic strategist Malia Fisher and GOP strategist Lauren Claffey debate.<\/p>\n

Seven Democratic presidential candidates face off Thursday night in Los Angeles in the final primary showdown<\/a> of the year.<\/p>\n

The debate comes with a sense of urgency: There\u2019s less than seven weeks to go until Iowa\u2019s caucuses kick off the presidential nominating calendar. Add to that a smaller setup \u2013 no previous debate had fewer than 10 candidates on the stage \u2013 and there\u2019s likely to be a tighter and tenser feel than in previous encounters<\/a>.<\/p>\n

DEBATE IS ON: DEAL REACHED IN UNION DISPUTE THAT THREATENED TO SIDETRACK SHOWDOWN<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Possibly making the debate\u00a0even more contentious is the belief that rising star and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg <\/a>got off too easy at last month\u2019s fifth round Democratic debate.<\/p>\n

And throw in the emergence of a feistier Sen. Elizabeth Warren, of Massachusetts<\/a>, who\u2019s now more willing to take aim at her rivals as she\u2019s seen her standing decline since the last showdown. Warren\u2019s polling problems come as her fellow progressive standard-bearer Sen. Bernie Sanders, of Vermont<\/a>, has seen his star shine once again. Could the peace between the two populist contenders and “Medicare-for-all” champions come crashing down?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe candidates are recognizing that the days of the calendar are becoming fewer and fewer and that they need to shake things up and that starts with drawing clear contrasts with your opponents, especially when those candidates are taking votes away from your own candidacy,\u201d veteran Democratic strategist Zac Petkanas emphasized.<\/p>\n

\"Polling:Video<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Also in the spotlight is former Vice President Joe Biden <\/a>\u2013 the front-runner in national polling and part of the top tier of contenders in early-voting-state surveys.<\/p>\n

Biden\u2019s often complained about the size of the debates, saying there are too many candidates and not enough time to speak.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people talk about debates. They\u2019re not debates. They\u2019re 60-second assertions,\u201d the former vice president said earlier this month while campaigning in Iowa.<\/p>\n

BOOKER’S NOT ON THE STAGE BUT DEBATE TV VIEWERS WILL SEE HIM<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Biden and the rest of the contenders on the stage \u00a0\u2013 Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, billionaire environmental and progressive advocate and organizer Tom Steyer, and tech-entrepreneur Andrew Yang \u2013 should enjoy considerable\u00a0more speaking time than in past debates.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the first debate where the top-tier candidates will get more speaking time and the opportunity to really lay out what their candidacy is all about,\u201d noted Petkanas, director of rapid response for Hillary Clinton\u2019s 2016 presidential campaign.<\/p>\n

As the unrivaled or co-front-runner since he declared his candidacy in late April, Biden\u2019s seen plenty of incoming fire at each of the five rounds of debates. While he\u2019s sure to take more jabs in Los Angeles, some of his biggest debate critics won\u2019t be on the stage. Sen. Kamala Harris, of California, ended her campaign earlier this month, and Sen. Cory Booker, of New Jersey,\u00a0<\/a>and former Housing secretary and former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro failed to qualify for the debate.<\/p>\n

\"ElizabethVideo<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Buttigieg was expected to come under attack at last month\u2019s debate \u2013 but the jabs never really materialized. But since the Atlanta showdown, the youngest contender in the field\u2019s been targeted over his failure to resonate with African American voters, his tenure working for the controversial consulting firm McKinsey, and his closed-door top-dollar fundraisers.<\/p>\n

With Warren leading the charge, Buttigieg was forced to respond \u2013 releasing details on his clients while consulting at McKinsey and opening his big donor fundraisers to press coverage.<\/p>\n

The scrutiny may likely continue at the Los Angeles debate.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he doesn\u2019t get more scrutiny now on the debate sage, I\u2019m not sure when,\u201d Petkanas said.<\/p>\n

Warren \u2013 who once refused to criticize her rivals \u2013 has mixed up her playbook and now seems at ease with firing off at her rivals \u2013 especially Buttigieg and Biden \u2013 the two top-tier more moderate contenders.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019ve seen from polling is that Pete Buttigieg is drawing directly from Elizabeth Warren. Now would be the time for Elizabeth Warren to show voters in Iowa and New Hampshire why her vision is different than that of the mayor from South Bend,\u201d Petkanas emphasized.<\/p>\n

But Warren\u2019s refrained from criticizing Sanders. A big question heading into the debate is whether the gloves finally come off between the two rock stars of the left.<\/p>\n

\"WhyVideo<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

For Klobuchar \u2013 who enjoyed rave reviews for her October and November debate performances \u2013 the December showdown is\u00a0an opportunity grab some more momentum in Iowa,\u00a0which neighbors her home state. She kicks off a jam-packed four-day swing through the first caucus state on Friday.<\/p>\n

For Steyer and Yang\u00a0 — who will be standing at the sides of the stage \u2013 the longer debate with fewer candidates could bring opportunities for more speaking time \u2013 and more time to explains their proposals and paint contrasts with the leading contenders.<\/p>\n

Hanging over the debate will be the candidates who didn\u2019t qualify and the lack of diversity on the stage in a presidential primary field that earlier this cycle was the most diverse in history. Booker and former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick \u2013 the two remaining black candidates \u2013 didn\u2019t make the cut. Neither did Castro \u2013 the only Latino in the field. Yang \u2013 who\u2019s Asian-American \u2013 will be the only non-white candidate on the stage. The lack of diversity is sure to be addressed by the PBS and Politico moderators and the candidates.<\/p>\n

But the biggest question surrounding the debate is whether the showdown will actually matter.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt remains to be seen if this debate will break the mold of past debates, which haven\u2019t really shaken things up very much in the primary,\u201d Petkanas highlighted.<\/p>\n

Unlike the GOP presidential primary debates in 2016 — and especially the 2012 cycle where it felt like there was a new front-runner after almost every debate \u2013 the 2020 Democratic primary debates have not been nearly as influential. The biggest moment to date \u2013 the Harris takedown of Biden in the first round of debates \u2013 gave the senator from California a brief bounce in the polls \u2013 but it didn\u2019t last.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a real question mark on whether these debates are having any impact on the primary that we expect to have,\u201d Petkanas added.<\/p>\n

And with this debate being held on the eve of a holiday week, whatever impact it may have could be even further diluted.<\/p>\n

Article source: http:\/\/feeds.foxnews.com\/~r\/foxnews\/politics\/~3\/pH37swe0si0\/smaller-stage-and-sense-of-urgency-could-spark-fireworks-at-thursdays-2020-debate<\/a>\r\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Video Only 7 candidates have qualified for next Democratic debate Who stands the best chance? Democratic strategist Malia Fisher and GOP strategist Lauren Claffey debate. Seven Democratic presidential candidates face off Thursday night in Los Angeles in the final primary showdown of the year. The debate comes with a sense of urgency: There\u2019s less than […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[84],"class_list":["post-199569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-political","tag-political"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199569\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}