The Democratic Party, it’s safe to say, has had a rough week, between the tech meltdowns in Iowa, impeachment failures in DC, and probably something else I’ve already forgotten. What better way to cap it off than gathering seven probably exhausted presidential candidates onstage to lob zingers at one another for three hours. Yes, that’s right: Once more unto the debate breach, dear friends, once more. (Actually, it will be thrice more in the month of February alone, an absurdly high ratio of nationally televised debates to calendar days.)
The eighth Democratic primary debate gets underway tonight at 8 pm EST (5 pm PST) in Manchester, New Hampshire, just a few days before the state’s first-in-nation primary on Tuesday. ABC and local affiliate WMUR are cohosting the festivities.
Who’s Debating Whomst
When the DNC originally announced the requirements to participate in its eighth debate last month, it provided two paths: Candidates could either meet the delegate threshold, based on the results of the Iowa caucus, or they needed to meet the familiar combination of polling and grassroots fundraising criteria. Who knows what the results out of Iowa are at this point (no, seriously, who knows), so tonight’s debaters all got in thanks to polls and donors.
The seven candidates participating in tonight’s debate are, in alphabetical order:
- Joe Biden, former vice president
- Pete Buttigieg, former mayor of South Bend, Indiana
- Amy Klobuchar, US senator from Minnesota
- Bernie Sanders, US senator from Vermont
- Tom Steyer, billionaire
- Elizabeth Warren,