The discussion involving six candidates will take place a few weeks before the start of the primaries and Caucuses season.
WASHINGTON-Potential Democratic presidential candidates will meet at an important debate in Iowa on Tuesday.
In three weeks, on February 3, this state will open the primaries and Caucuses season, which will end with the announcement of the party’s official candidate.
Six candidates will take the stage, and the debate is likely to show signs of growing tension between some of them. The debate will also take place against the backdrop of military tensions with Iran and the upcoming impeachment trial of President Donald Trump in the Senate.
One of the participants in Tuesday’s debate will be the current poll leader among democratic candidates, former Vice President Joe Biden.
In light of recent events with Iran, Biden is focusing on national security.
“This is why it is so important to elect a person who is ready from the first day after the election to end this disorganization and immediately become the commander-in-chief of our armed forces,” Biden said.
Biden faces serious resistance in states that vote first, such as Iowa and New Hampshire, especially from Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
One recent poll showed that Sanders is in the lead in Iowa.
“When you live from paycheck to paycheck, it’s not just that you can’t afford decent housing or a car,” Sanders said. – It’s the stress of trying to survive every day, not knowing if you can put food on the table or pay the electricity bill next week.”
At the same time, tensions are growing between Sanders and some other candidates, including Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren.
Warren’s position in recent polls has declined slightly, but she remains a strong candidate in Iowa and New Hampshire.
“I was disappointed when I heard that Bernie was sending his volunteers to throw mud at me,” Warren said. “The Democrats must unite our party, and that means engaging all segments of the democratic coalition.”
Sanders denied that he had directed criticism at Warren.
Another strong candidate in the States voting first is a former mayor of South Bend in Indiana, Pete Buttigieg.
He focused on national unity.
“It requires a different patriotism and a different commitment to national security, love for the country, which begins with the realization that our country is made up of people, and that you can not love the country if you hate half of these people. I’m talking about something better,” Buttigieg said.
Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg did not meet the requirements to participate in the debate but rose in the polls after a massive advertising campaign on television in hopes of taking part in the primaries in March.
“I know how to create jobs and build a business, not because I played the role of a business leader in a TV show, but because I was really like that in real life,” Bloomberg said.
The outcome of the Iowa race is not clear now, according to analyst John Fortier.
“The race is pretty fluid, but there is a clear leader – Joe Biden, and if he is not knocked off his horse in the first States, his position seems pretty strong,” said Fortier, who represents the center for bipartisan politics.
The pace of the campaign will increase in the coming weeks as voters in Iowa and New Hampshire prepare to make their first judgments about the candidates.
