By Dave Andrusko
#1 candidate for understatement of at least the last month comes from Steve Peoples of the Associated Press: “Just a month has passed since the last presidential debate, but the state of the Democrats’ 2020 race has shifted.”
You think?
Peoples has his own litany of the major changes since the third debate in Houston which is partially embedded in his headline: “6 questions looming over the crowded 2020 Democratic debate.”
But, first some logistics, courtesy of Madison Feller
The fourth debate will be co-hosted by CNN and the New York Times on October 15 in Westerville, Ohio, at the Otterbein University campus. CNN anchors Anderson Cooper and Erin Burnett, as well as Times national editor Marc Lacey, will act as moderators. The debate will start at 8 P.M. and go until 11 P.M.
It was also recently announced that MSNBC and the Washington Post will be hosting the fifth debate in Georgia on November 20.
In addition, the stage will be packed—12 in all. In alphabetical order: South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg; former HUD Secretary Julián Castro; Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard; California Sen. Kamala Harris; Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar; former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke; Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders; billionaire investor and activist Tom Steyer; Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren; and entrepreneur Andrew Yang.
Back to the changes since the candidates gathered at Texas Southern University. Here are just few, remembering that something very important has not changed.
All the Democrats vying to run against pro-life President Donald Trump in 2020 are hard-core, rock-ribbed, nose-to-the-grindstone servants of Planned Parenthood, NARAL, and EMILY’s list.
*78-year-old Sen. Bernie Sanders had a heart attack.
*Sen. Elizabeth Warren was the only candidate to gain appreciably on former Vice President Joe Biden, less by taking away from Biden than by snatching a point or two, here or there, from other candidates. She is very competitive (in polls) in the early primary states.
*O’Rourke thrives on controversy, much of it not directly related to our issues. Will the other candidates, already ultra-liberal, move even further away from mainstream America? Even the major media is nervous about that.
*Peoples asks, “How will Biden Defend Himself and his family.” The controversies are not our issues, but how Biden responds (assuming either the moderators or his competition bring them up) will either solidify his reputation for defensiveness and abrasiveness when challenged or win him points with Democrats looking for a reason to stay with a frontrunner whose lead has largely melted away. Finally
*For me, the most interesting question. This is not exactly a powerful assemblage of candidates. So, if tonight’s free-for-all should illustrate that truism yet again, how soon might someone else enter into the race?
8-11 tonight on CNN.