The debate stage is set for the sixth Democratic primary debate of the 2020 presidential campaign season, co-hosted by PBS NewsHour & Politico in Los Angeles, featuring seven of the 15 contenders for the party’s nomination (Robyn Beck)
<p>Washington (AFP) – White House hopeful Joe Biden faces a new test Thursday in the latest prime-time debate of a 2020 race until now overshadowed by the impeachment of President Donald Trump.</p><p>Only Biden and six of the other 15 Democrats still in the contest have qualified to make their pitch to voters at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, six weeks before the first nomination ballots are cast in Iowa.</p><p>The showdown marks a significant drop from the 10 candidates in November’s debate, and the dozen who crowded the stage in October. Cozier quarters may allow for more extended clashes over policy between the participants hoping for their party’s nomination to challenge Trump.</p><p>Even those qualified may struggle to stand out on the issues, as the all-consuming drama surrounding Trump’s impeachment continues to suck political oxygen from the White House campaign.</p><p>Trump was impeached in the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives on Wednesday for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. One day later, the spotlight is already swinging to the Senate trial, where the the president is expected to be acquitted by his Republican majority.</p><p>Biden himself is a key figure in the impeachment saga, which centers on Trump’s attempts to pressure the president of Ukraine to investigate the former vice president and his son Hunter — which Democrats said amounted to soliciting foreign interference in next year’s vote.</p><p>There has been no evidence of wrongdoing against the Bidens.</p><p>Despite campaign gaffes, doubts about his health and age — 77 — and the repercussions of the Ukraine affair, Biden remains the favorite to face off against Trump in November.</p><p>Biden currently enjoys 27.8 percent support among likely Democratic voters, according to a poll average by the RealClearPolitics website.</p><p>A centrist, he promises to take America back to the way things were under Barack Obama, rescuing it from the extreme polarization that has characterized Trump’s tenure. He is popular with blue-collar workers and African Americans.</p><p>- Fireworks? -</p><p></p><p>Behind him in the polls are Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders (19.3 percent) and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren (15.2 percent), who are competing for the party’s progressive wing.</p><p>Their leftist platform — universal health care, a tax on the wealthy to reduce inequality, dramatic action on climate change — is very popular with young and women voters, but makes moderates uneasy.</p><p>With Sanders exhibiting polling stamina and Warren on the decline after months of solid showings, the two senators and friends who have remained cordial onstage may confront each other if Warren seeks to claw back ground.</p><p>But she could also clash with centrist Pete Buttigieg. He is in fourth place with 8.3 percent but has surged in Iowa, a key state because it votes first in the Democratic nominating process on February 3.</p><p>The 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana is the first gay candidate with a real chance to win the White House. He has recently shown strength in New Hampshire, which votes next on February 11.</p><p>Buttigieg and Warren have battled extensively in recent weeks. The senator slammed Buttigieg’s work for consulting firm McKinsey and his closed-door, high-dollar fundraisers.</p><p>Further back in the pack at 3.3 percent are entrepreneur Andrew Yang, whose staying power continues to surprise, and Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota who was praised for strong debate performances recently.</p><p>California billionaire Tom Steyer at 1.5 percent, will round out the group.</p><p>Hovering over the debate is the race’s newest major entrant, former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, another billionaire who is using his personal fortune to fund his own campaign.</p><p>He is polling at five percent but doesn’t have the minimum 200,000 individual donors required by the debate organizers.</p><p>Having announced his candidacy very late in the campaign, Bloomberg is focusing on the 15 states that vote in early March, including Texas and California.</p><p>But the absence from this debate of three candidates of color — Senator Kamala Harris who dropped out this month, Senator Cory Booker, and Obama-era cabinet member Julian Castro — has highlighted the sudden lack of debate diversity.</p><p>While two women will be on stage, Yang, who is Taiwanese American, is the only non-white candidate in the debate, after a historically diverse first showdown in June.</p><p>But Booker’s presence will be felt, at least by viewers. During the debate he will air an ad asking voters to support his campaign for "transformative change" in America.</p><p>"You’re only going to see this ad once, because I’m not a billionaire," he says in the spot, a dig at Bloomberg and Steyer, who are self-funding much of their campaigns.</p><p></p>

Disclaimer: Validity of the above story is for 7 Days from original date of publishing. Source: AFP.