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After Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren fended off repeated attacks from moderate competitors, the next 10 presidential primary contenders take the stage Wednesday for the second night of the second Democratic debates.
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Here is how the night is unfolding. (Please refresh for updates.)
9:08 p.m. Cory Booker slams Former Vice President Joe Biden on Obama
After Vice President Joe Biden tried to separate himself from former President Barack Obama’s immigration policies, Sen. Cory Booker came with a quick response to Obama’s name being thrown into the debate.
Paul Sancya/AP
“First of all, you can’t have it both ways. You invoke president Obama more than anybody in this campaign. You can’t do it when it’s convenient and dodge it when it’s not,” Booker said.
9:06 p.m.: Tulsi Gabbard tackles student loan debt, as youngest contender on stage
Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, the youngest candidate on stage at 38-years old, brought up the issue of student loan debt in a question about giving tuition-free college for undocumented immigrants, highlighting her age difference from some of her rivals at the podiums Wednesday.
“We’ve got to look at the challenge that people all across this country are facing under crushing student debt. This is something that’s impacting my generation in a huge way and I believe that it is our generation that has the bold, creative solutions to be able to solve it,” she said.
9:05 p.m. Mayor Bill de Blasio questions Joe Biden on deportations during his time as vice president
De Blasio pressed Biden on wether her tried to stop mass deportation of illegal immigrants during his time serving as vice president in the Obama-administration to which he responded, “The president came along and he’s the guy that came up with the idea, first time ever of dealing with the dreamers. He put that in the law. He talked about a comprehensive plan which he put on — laid before the congress saying that we should find a pathway to citizenship for people.”
The New York Mayor again pressed him to answer the question further and Biden responded, ” I was vice president. I’m not the president. I keep my recommendation in private. Unlike you, I expect you would go ahead and say whatever was said privately. That is not what I do.”
9:03 p.m.: Biden, Yang share a moment over immigration
Wrapping his comments on his vision for immigration, former Vice President Joe Biden said directly to Andrew Yang, “Anybody who crosses the stage with a Ph.D., should get a green card for seven years. We should keep them here.”
Yang, the son of immigrants, replied: “Thank you very much, Mr. Vice President.”
9:02 p.m. Cory Booker defends his proposed immigration policy
” An unlawful crossing is an unlawful crossing if you do in the civil courts or the criminal courts. The criminal courts is giving Donald Trump the ability to violate the human rights of people coming to our country. They’re human rights. And so doing it through the civil courts means you won’t need these awful detention facilities that I’ve been to. Seeing children sleeping on pavement, people being put in cages, nursing mothers, small children, this is not necessary.
9:00 p.m.: Andrew Yang, the son of immigrants, hopes to change debate around immigration
Recounting his own family’s history amid a tense debate over immigration, Andrew Yang jumped in to say, “My father immigrated here and generated over 65 U.S. Patents for GE and IBM. That’s the immigration story we need to be telling.”
“We can’t always been focusing on some of the distressing stories. If you go to a factory here in Michigan, you will not find wall to wall immigrants, you will find wall to wall machines. Immigrants are being scapegoated for something they have nothing to do with,” he added.
8:58 p.m. Former Vice President Joe Biden comes for Julian Castro
Julian Castro, who used to work alongside Biden in the Obama-administration, came under fire from the former Vice President for his proposed immigration policies.
“I found that the secretary, we sat together in many meetings, I never heard him talk about any of this when he was the secretary,” Biden said.
Castro responded to loud applause saying, “It looks like one of us has learned from the lessons of the past and one of us hasn’t.”
Castro added that we need to have guts on this issue to which Biden said, “I have guts enough to say his plan doesn’t make sense.”
8:57 p.m.: Harris, Bennet and Gillibrand take aim at Trump over immigration agenda
In a couple of minutes of unity, three senators were aligned as they all took aim at the current president over immigration.
Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
“These children have not committed crimes and should not be treated like criminals,” Sen. Kamala Harris said.
Sen Michael Bennet chimed in: “There’s not a single person on this stage if were president would ever separate a child from their parents at the border … That is what this administration has done in the American people’s name, they have turned our border into a symbol of hostility, the symbol of this country before Donald Trump was president was the statue of liberty. That should be the symbol of the United States of America.”
And Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand added: “No president before President Trump enforced the law in the way he has enforced it because he’s using it as the crutch to lock up women and children, to separate mothers and babies, to put them behind bars. So I don’t think we should have a law on the books that can be so misused. It should be a civil violation and we should make sure that we treat people humanely.”
8:53 p.m. ABC News’ Mary Bruce and MaryAlice Parks analyze attacks on Sen. Kamala Harris’ health care plan
Senator Harris is taking every chance she gets to pivot back to Biden and their differences over health care.
But Harris also has a target on her back tonight and she is being forced over and over again to explain and defend her new plan. And it doesn’t appear to be her forte.
For example, she just tried to make a passionate plea that private companies shouldn’t be making profits off of people’s health care… but her plan keeps private for-profit companies in the game.
ABC News’ Mary Bruce and MaryAlice Parks contributed to this report>
8:52 p.m. Democrats switch the conversation to immigration
Former HUD Secretary Julian Castro is asked to defend his stance on decriminalizing illegal border crossings.
“My plan would make sure that we put undocumented immigrants on a pathway to citizenship, that we do a 21st Century marshal plan with countries so we can get to the root of this challenge so people can find safety and opportunity at home instead of having to come to the United States. That’s how we can be smarter, more effective and more humane when it comes to immigration policy,” Castro said.
8:50 p.m.: Joe Biden drops his first ‘malarkey’ of the night
Former Vice President Joe Biden, in another defense of the Affordable Care Act, targeted his rivals’ plans on health care, saying, “They can buy into this plan and they can buy into it with $1,000 deductible and never have to pay more than 8.5% of their income when they do it and if they don’t have any money, they will get in free.,” he began of his health care plan. “So this idea is a bunch of malarky we’re talking about here. The fact of the matter is, there will be a deductible on their paycheck. Bernie acknowledges it. $30 trillion has to ultimately be paid and I don’t know what math you do in New York, I don’t know what math you do in California but I tell Ya, that’s a lot of money and there will be a deductible.”
8:49 p.m. Mayor Bill de Blasio says Michael Bennet is ‘fear-mongering’ on universal health care
“I don’t want why Democrats on this stage are fear-mongering about universal health care. It makes no sense,” de Blasio said.
CNN moderator Jake Tapper asked de Blasio who he was referring to and the New York mayor responded, “With all due respect, what Senator Bennett is saying is absolutely inaccurate about taxes. Americans right now are paying so much money for their health care, ask people about the reality of premiums, deductibles, co-pays, out-of-pocket expenses.”
Bennet responded, “This has nothing to do with Republican talking points or the pharmaceutical industry. This has to do with having faith in the American people they can make the right decisions for their families, and they can choose a public option. Bernie Sanders who said last night he wrote the bill and did just like I wrote the public option bill is the guy who says it will cost $32 trillion and that we’re going to have to raise those taxes to pay for it.”
8:47 p.m.: Andrew Yang inserts his business acumen into health care debate
The lone entrepreneur on stage, Andrew Yang, invoked his business experience when talking about health care.
“Democrats are talking about health care in the wrong way. As someone who has run a business, I can tell you flat out our current health care system makes it harder to hire, makes it harder to treat people well and give them benefits and makes it harder to switch jobs as Senator Harris says and harder to start a business. If we say look, we’ll get health care off the backs of businesses and families, then watch American entrepreneurship recover.”
Paul Sancya/AP
“That’s the argument we should be making to the American people,” he added.
8:44 p.m. Gov. Jay Inslee answers for health care in Washington
Gov. Jay Inslee speaks to recent health care legislation he signed into law in Washington saying, “I’m proud of our state that has done less squabbling in getting things done and I’m proud we’re the first state to offer a publicly sanctioned offer of health care to our citizens. I’m also proud that we didn’t stop there. We’re also the first state that has taken care of our elders, our seniors. We have a looming retirement wave coming up. I’m proud our state made them eligible to retire in dignity. I think we need to talk more about this as Democrats.”
8:41 p.m.: ‘Friends’ Michael Bennet and Kamala Harris spar over employer-based health care
In the middle of fielding several attacks over her “Medicare for All” plan, Sen. Kamala Harris took a moment to respond to one from Sen. Michael Bennet, saying, “With all due respect to my friend Michael Bennett, my plan does not offer anything that is illegal. What it does is it separates the employer from health care meaning that where you work will not be — the kind of health care you get will not be a function of where you work.”
Bennet continued to criticize her, responding, “I have to say if we can’t admit, if we can’t admit tonight what’s in the plan, which is banning employer-based insurance, we won’t be able to admit that when Donald Trump is accusing Democrats of doing that, as well.”
Harris quipped, “We cannot keep with the Republican talking points on this. You got to stop.”
8:39 p.m. Michael Bennet weighs in on Medicare-for-All
Sen. Michael Bennet when asked if Medicare-for-All will get President Trump re-elected said, “I agree it makes it much more likely. Unlike others on this stage, I’ve been crystal clear where I’ve been through a decade through two tough races in Colorado. I believe we should finish the job we started with the Affordable Care Act with a public auction that gives everybody in this audience a chance to pick for their family if they want private or public insurance and requires drug companies to be negotiated with by medicare and provides competition.”
8:37 p.m.: Tulsi Gabbard takes a jab at Kamala Harris
Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard went on offense against Sen. Kamala Harris for her health care plan, saying, “Kamala Harris talked about Kathleen [Sibelius] that helped write her bill. Sibelius works for a company that stands to profit under her plan. If we’re seeking to reform the health care system, we have to shutout big insurance and pharma say they cannot be on the backs of those sick people in the country that are in desperate need of care.”
Lucas Jackson/Reuters
But Harris hit back, aiming to correct the congresswoman, asserting, “Unfortunately, Representative Gabbard got it wrong. She did not write my plan, she endorsed it.”
8:35 p.m. Sen. Cory Booker takes aim at Trump
Sen. Cory Booker before detailing his own health care plan, takes jabs at President Donald Trump saying, “First of all, let me say that the person that’s enjoying this debate most right now is Donald Trump. We pit Democrats against each other while he is working right now to take away Americans’ health care. There is a court case working through the system that will gut the Affordable Care Act and actually get for preexisting conditions.”
8:34 p.m. Former Vice President Joe Biden defends wanting to expand Affordable Care Act
Biden responded to Mayor Bill de Blasio claims that building on the Affordable Care Act is not the best path forward to improving our health care system.
Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
“My response is Obamacare is working,” Biden said. “The way to build this and get to it immediately is to build on Obamacare. Go back and take back all the things that trump took away, provide a public option, meaning every single person in America would be able to buy another option if they didn’t like their employer plan or on Medicaid they would automatically be in the plan.”
8:33 p.m.: Bill de Blasio takes aim at both Biden, Harris
In his first opportunity to pitch a national audience of the night, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio immediately took aim at polling frontrunners Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, saying, “I don’t know what the vice president and senator are talking about. The folks I talk to about health insurance say it isn’t working for them. Tens of millions of Americans don’t have health insurance.”
As a lower-polling candidate, de Blasio is seeking a breakout moment.
He continued: “What I hear from union workers and hard-working middle-class people is they wish they had better insurance and are angry at private insurance companies that skim the profits off the top and make it impossible for everyday people to get mental care, dental care.”
8:28 p.m.: Kamala Harris fields first question on her “Medicare For All” plan
When asked about former Vice President Joe Biden’s attacks on her health care plan, released earlier this week, Sen. Kamala Harris responded, “They are probably confused because they have not read it.”
“The reality is I have been spending time in this campaign listening to American families, listening to experts, listening to health care providers, and what I came away with is a very clear understanding that I needed to create a plan that was responsive to the needs of the American people, responsive to their needs of understanding that insurance companies have been jacking up the prices for far too long.”
Biden then replied, “My response is the senator had several plans so far and any time someone tells you you’re going to get something good in ten years, you should wonder why it takes ten years,” before adding, “you can’t beat President Trump with double talk on this plan.”
8:25 p.m. The top two candidates on stage close out the opening statements
Sen. Kamala Harris said, “This is a moment in time that is requiring us each as individuals and collectively to look in the mirror and ask a question.That question being who are we? And I think most of us know that part of the answer to that question is we are better than this.”
Former Vice President Joe Biden said, “Just look at this stage, made up of diverse people from diverse backgrounds, went on to be mayors, senators, governors, congresswomen, members of the cabinet and yes, even a vice president. Mr. President, this is America. And we are stronger and great because of this diversity, Mr. President, not in spite of it, Mr. President. So Mr. President, let’s get something straight. We love it. We are not leaving it. We are here to stay and we’re certainly not going to leave it to you.”
8:23 p.m.: Cory Booker’s opening statement interrupted by protesters
In the middle of his opening statement, Sen. Cory Booker had to briefly pause, amid interrupting protesters, chanting.
Booker said, “We have serious problems in America. We have deep wounds and seriously deeply rooted challenges. We desperately need to heal as a nation and move forward because we know in this country our fates are united, that we have a common destiny. The call of this election is the call to unite and common cause and common purpose.”
8:18 p.m. The middle-tier candidates make their appeal to voters
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said, “Beating Donald Trump definitely not impossible. We need a nominee who will take on the big fights and win. We need a nominee who doesn’t know the meaning of impossible.”
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard said, “I know what patriotism is and I’ve known many great patriots throughout my life and let me tell you this, Donald Trump is not behaving like a patriot. As president I will bring this spirit of real patriotism to the White House, serving the interest of all Americans, not just the rich and powerful.”
Julian Castro said, “I don’t want to make America anything again. I don’t want us to go backward. We’re not going back to the past. We’re not going back where we came from. We’re going to move forward. We’re going to make America better than its ever been in the years to come. Let’s do that together.”
Andrew Yang said, “We need to do the opposite of much of what we’re doing right now and the opposite of Donald Trump is an Asian man who likes math.”
8:13 p.m. Candidates make their pitch to voters with their opening statements
Mayor Bill de Blasio said, “To the working people of America, tonight I bring you a message of hope. We can make change in this country.”
Michael Bennet said, “Mr. President, kids belong in classrooms, not cages. And they deserve something better than a bully in the White House. Let’s end this three-ring circus in Washington and let’s make this election about reclaiming our future for our kids and our democracy. Empty promises won’t beat Donald Trump, I can.”
Jay Inslee said, ” I am running for president because the people in this room and the Democrats watching tonight are the last best hope for humanity on this planet. If, if we make defeating the climate crisis the top priority of the United States, we will have a fighting chance to save ourselves and our children’s future.”
8:10 p.m.: Joe Biden tells Kamala Harris: ‘Go easy on me, kid’
As Sen. Kamala Harris walked out on stage, greeted by former Vice President Joe Biden, he quietly said to her “go easy on me, kid.”
Paras Griffin/Getty Images, FILE
The moment was picked up by his mic and comes after a contentious moment at the first debate between the two, which was followed by a month of back-and-forth sparring over Biden’s record and Harris’ history as a young prosecutor.
8:05 p.m.: Bill de Blasio to unveil a wealth tax during the debate
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is poised to introduce a wealth tax at Wednesday’s debate, which he says would bring in $3 trillion over 10 years.
De Blasio would begin with a 1% wealth tax on people who have $10 million or more, 2% on those with over $25 million and 3% for those with over $100 million.
De Blasio’s plan also adds a “Turncoat Tax” that would financially punish Americans who try to avoid paying taxes by moving their assets to tax shelters overseas. Warren, too, would impose an “exit tax” on wealthy people who try to stash their assets outside the U.S.
CBS first reported
-ABC News’ Chris Donato reports from Detroit, Michigan
8: 04 p.m.: The candidates take the stage
The candidates take the stage in the highly anticipated second night of the debates.
8 p.m.: Debate is getting underway
The second night of the second Democratic debates is now underway.
7:57 p.m.: What to watch for at Wednesday’s debate
Former Vice President Joe Biden is expecting attacks from all sides, but he said he won’t be “so polite this time.”
Sen. Kamala Harris said of her debate strategy, “My mother raised me to be polite, and I intend to be polite. I will express differences and articulate them, and certainly point out where we have differences of opinion.”
Earlier in the week, Sen. Cory Booker‘s team said his approach will be “to be himself.”
One lower-polling candidate, de Blasio, is “ready to perform” after a “very good first debate performance,” his campaign team said.
For most of the candidates on stage, the stakes for this two-night showdown are much higher after the Democratic National Committee announced more stringent qualifying rules for the September and October debates, meaning this could be their last chance before a national audience.
7:50 p.m.: The next ten candidates are about to take the stage
With 10 minutes to go before the candidates trickle out on stage, here is the lineup for tonight’s debate (in order of podium positions from left to right):
7:45 p.m.: ABC News’ partner FiveThirtyEight is live blogging the second debate
The FiveThirtyEight team is offering real-time analysis, charts, thoughts, questions, ideas, idle fancies and more here.
They will be tracking everything on stage Wednesday, from the issues candidates talk about to how the media covers the debate.
7:39 p.m.: Joe Biden shares a photo with his family minutes before taking the stage
Former Vice President Joe Biden, prior to taking the stage, tweeted out a photo of with his family, writing, “I’m getting ready to take the stage in Detroit! Grateful to have my family by my side.”
7:37 p.m.: DNC Chair Tom Perez warms up the debate crowd
During the CNN debate pre-show, Democratic National Committee chair Tom Perez took the stage in the Fox Theatre, to energize the audience, rhetorically asking, “Anyone hear a discussion about hand size last night?”
“By the way, this was the arena. This was the facility four years ago where they talked about hand size,” he continued, before adding, “Instead we talked about the serious stuff…the issues that matter to working families. And we’re going to have another spirited discussion tonight.”
He also took aim at President Trump, calling the administration a “dumpster fire” to applause.
7:28 p.m. Marianne Williamson said she has foreign policy experience because “my parents were world travelers.”
7:22 p.m.: Inside Michigan’s critical swing county
On the sidelines of the debate, earlier Wednesday, ABC News Live went on a journey along Route 53 in one of the most critical swing areas in the entire country: Macomb County, Michigan.
The thousands of voters there helped deliver a win for President Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election. How are these voters feeling nearly three years later? Has the president lived up to his promises? Hear from a mayor who voted for President Trump in 2016, but does not plan to do so again in 2020. He’ll give us the pulse of the independent voters in his city who he says have “motor oil flowing from their veins.”
This all comes just one day before a massive GM assembly plant in Macomb County closes for good.
-ABC News’ Devin Dwyer and Jon Schlosberg report from Michigan
7:20 p.m. Behind-the-scenes with Sen. Kamala Harris before the debate
Sen. Harris gears up to hit the stage for night two of the CNN Democratic 2020 presidential debates.
6:11 p.m.: Eyeing the general election, the Trump campaign announces its Ohio teams
Only a few hours before the next 10 Democratic candidates take the stage for the debate, the Trump campaign and the RNC have announced its Ohio teams ahead of Thursday’s “Keep America Great” rally in Ohio.
Signaling the campaign’s focus on the general election, the announcement appears to be part of a larger strategy — with the campaign announcing state teams every leading up to a rally in the state. Two weeks ago, the campaign and the RNC made a similar announcement ahead of the president’s rally in Greenville, North Carolina.
As previously announced, Clayton Henson, the party’s coalitions director in Ohio in 2016 will work as the state director. Bob Paduchik, who previously served as the co-chairman of the RNC will serve as a senior advisor.
Senator Rob Portman, Congressman Jim Jordan, and Governor Mike DeWine are among the honorary state chairs. Missing from that list — former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who has sent mixed signals on a potential 2020 run.
-ABC News’ Rachel Scott reports while en route to Cincinnati, Ohio
5:56 p.m.: Kirsten Gillibrand says her gameplan is to ‘win’
ABC News’ Deputy Political Director MaryAlice Parks ran into New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in the lobby of a hotel in Detroit, and asked the presidential contender what her strategy is Wednesday night.
The senator responded with one word: “win.”
5:26 p.m.: Cory Booker’s campaign spokesperson says he ‘won’t hold back’
New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker’s national press secretary, Sabrina Singh, outlined the senator’s strategy for tonight’s debate, amid speculation that he’ll be seeking a California Sen. Kamala Harris-esque breakout moment by attacking former Vice President Joe Biden, particularly over the issue of criminal justice reform, on which they’ve publicly sparred during the past week.
Though she wouldn’t make any specific guarantees and said that the senator is not a fan of entirely pre-rehearsed lines, she did say that “when there are those moments that he needs to speak the truth on something, he’s not going to hold back.”
As for the idea that Booker, who’s known for his positive and forward-looking outlook and for campaigning on a message of unity and love, could turn negative at some point tonight, Singh compared any such talk to “tough love,” and said it would mean that the senator felt it was truly necessary,
“It does really hit home to him,” she said. “And you know, as Cory says, like, these are these folks on the stage are like his family and his friends. But you know, you got to give your family and friends tough love every now and then. And he’s not going to hold back on speaking the truth.”
Singh further shared Booker’s feelings about last night’s stand-off between some of the race’s progressives and moderates, and instead of feeling like the rift was tearing the party apart, said that the senator thinks the disagreements were good to showcase.
AP
“At the end of the day, we should have these conversations. But all of us whoever the Democratic nominee is, have to unite behind that person. We cannot repeat what we have what happened in 2016, we need to have a strong party going into the general.”
-ABC News’ Adam Kelsey reports from Detroit, Michigan
5:20 p.m.: Debate night 2: fast facts
There will be over 166 years of political experience on the debate stage tonight.
1 Vice President: Former Vice President Joe Biden
4 United States Senators: Sens. Michael Bennet, Kirsten Gillibrand, Cory Booker and Kamala Harris
1 United States Representative: Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard
1 Governor: Gov. Jay Inslee
2 Mayors: Former San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio
1 entrepreneur: Andrew Yang
Debate stage podium positions (left-right): Bennet, Gillibrand, Castro, Booker, Biden, Harris, Yang, Gabbard, Inslee, de Blasio
Oldest candidate – Biden (76 years old)
Youngest candidate – Gabbard (38 years old)
Most political experience – Biden (46 years)
Least political experience – Yang
Brian Snyder/Reuters
4:49 p.m.: Biden’s campaign team lays out their debate view
Former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign team says he won’t take any attack’s on his record laying down and plans to articulate a strong case for why President Donald Trump’s leadership has been a failure for working-class people and on the world stage. While his advisors said Biden won’t go after his rivals personally, they signaled he is ready for attacks from Booker and Gillibrand if those candidates follow through on the strategies they hinted at prior to the debate to attack Biden on his role in the 1994 crime bill and on women’s issues.
Biden’s focus will be on drawing policy differences, according to his campaign advisors. They also hammered home their belief that the attacks on Biden in the last debate were personal from someone he had a personal relationship with, but said they didn’t plan to engage in those attacks because it’s not who the vice president is or his way of conduct.
As far as preparation is concerned, advisors say Biden took prep very seriously, and “prepped intensely” for his second debate, but wouldn’t disclose how many mock debates they held in those prep sessions.
-ABC News’ Chris Donato, Mary Bruce, and Sarah Kolinovsky report from Detroit, Michigan and Molly Nagle from Washington, D.C.
2:15 p.m.: Andrew Yang arrives at Fox Theatre, shares message to ‘Yang Gang’
Andrew Yang did not wear a tie during the MSNBC debates, which created much noise on social media.
This afternoon Yang arrived for his CNN walkthrough wearing a tie killing social media’s anticipation. He shared a message of appreciation for his base on Twitter: “Where are at the Fox theater doing the walk through on CNN. I did wear a tie just for the walk through.”
-ABC News’ Kelsey Walsh reports from New York City
4 a.m: What to expect from the second night of debate
Airing on CNN at 8 p.m. ET, Wednesday night’s debate is expected to be more contentious than Tuesday’s, picking up where the first debates in Miami left off: When Biden was relegated to playing defense after a game-changing moment for Harris and other lesser-known candidates saw spikes in fundraising and polling following much-needed breakout performances.
For the last few weeks, campaign aides and surrogates have been sparring over policy in back-and-forth statements, cable TV appearances, and on social media, but now the candidates will have the chance to speak for themselves on their differences and present their visions for the country.
The second ten candidates who are set to square off on Wednesday are:
But beyond the two sets of polling front-runners potentially squaring off each night — Sanders, I-Vt., and Warren, D-Mass., sharing center stage on night one, and Biden and Harris on night two — a parade of moderates will have the opportunity to take on the progressive stalwarts. Some occupying the lower fundraising tiers will have the chance to directly confront Biden, even as he prepares for attacks from all sides.
“As the clear front-runner, the attacks will once again be directed Joe Biden’s way,” a senior Biden campaign official told ABC News.
A day prior to the first night of debate, a new Quinnipiac University poll, released Monday, put Biden comfortably back on top of the Democratic field, with 34% support and significant distance between him and the next polling tier of Warren (15%), Harris (12%) and Sanders (11%).
While Biden expects attacks from all sides, he said last week at a fundraiser in Michigan that if his 2020 rivals talk about his past, he’ll return the favor and won’t be “so polite this time.”
“As the clear front-runner, the attacks will once again be directed Joe Biden’s way. And our opponents are already telegraphing how they plan to attack him: Bill de Blasio on trade and workers’ rights, Cory Booker on crime bill, Kamala Harris running the same play once again on busing, Gillibrand on women’s rights, Castro on immigration. We’re expecting it, but we’re also expecting the unexpected,” a senior Biden campaign official told ABC News.
Earlier on Monday, Harris said of her debate strategy, “My mother raised me to be polite, and I intend to be polite. I will express differences and articulate them, and certainly point out where we have differences of opinion.”
Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
Two days before Booker is set to take the stage, his campaign team is already eyeing the road ahead.
Campaign officials outlined Booker’s pathway to victory in the general election, announcing they will be rolling out trips to Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan over the coming days with the hopes to mobilize black voters who may have “stayed home, were discouraged or suppressed” from voting in 2016.
“With more young people and people of color getting inspired as part of the resistance to Trump and the desire for a change in politics as usual, Sen. Booker is uniquely positioned based on his backgrounds and strengths as a candidate to connect with those voters and energize them back into the democratic fold,” said his chief innovation officer Emily Norman.
But his campaign manager, Addisu Demissie, detailed his debate strategy during the Monday call, saying, “I think Cory’s approach to the debate is to be himself. And, you know, that means present his vision for the country, how he’s going to be Donald Trump, and begin the process of fixing and healing, the pain that Donald Trump has caused.”
“‘Be yourself’ is our best advice to him. And when he does that people like him and end up voting for him,” he added.
One lower-polling candidate, de Blasio, is “ready to perform” after a “very good first debate performance,” his campaign team said.
“There are legitimate contrasts between the candidates and their positions in this battle for the heart and soul of the Democratic Party and the mayor is fully prepared to discuss these as well as his long list of accomplishments in New York City,” said Jaclyn Rothenberg, his national press secretary. “The most controversial issue in debate prep so far has been how the Mets got Marcus Stroman and why. With the help of his team, he’s prepared and ready to take the stage on Wednesday to deliver his message of putting working people first.”
Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
For most of the candidates on stage, the stakes for this two-night showdown are much higher after the Democratic National Committee announced more stringent qualifying rules for the September and October debates: candidates will need 2% in four qualifying polls and cross the 130,000 donor mark to qualify.
Only seven candidates have qualified for the September debate, according to an ABC News analysis, including Biden, Booker, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Harris, former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourke, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. The rest of the field has only a month to go before the deadline.
These debates in Michigan, the site of the heart of former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s loss in the Midwest after then-candidate Trump carried the state by 0.3 percentage points, also come a week after former special counsel Robert Mueller’s nearly seven-hour testimony on Capitol Hill, when he raised the specter of Russian meddling in the 2020 election, after testifying that 2016 “wasn’t a single attempt … they expect to do it during the next campaign.”
In a new ABC News/Ipsos poll, 54% of Americans said that they are not confident in the capability of the U.S. to effectively defend itself from potential foreign government interference in the 2020 presidential election. Only 17% said they were very confident and 27% were somewhat confident.
But with concerns of foreign interference looming over the field, squabbles continue over the direction of the party. On Monday, the candidates engaged in an early preview of a debate over healthcare, after Harris released her “Medicare for All” plan, an offshoot of the Sanders’ bill he introduced and she co-signed, which includes a loophole to allow private insurers to offer Medicare plans during a 10-year period.
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