Debate schedule:
Sept. 29: Presidential debate #1 (Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio)
Oct. 7: VP debate (The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah)
Oct. 15: Presidential debate #2 (Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Miami, Florida) (cancelled)
Oct. 22: Presidential debate #3 (Belmont University, Nashville, Tennessee)

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August 11, 2020 - Presumptive nominee Joe Biden selects Kamala Harris as VP.

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The primary seems to be over. Joe Biden is the apparent nominee.

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Feb 3
Iowa (caucus)

Feb 11
New Hampshire

Feb 22
Nevada (caucus)

Feb 29
South Carolina

March 3 (Super Tuesday)
Alabama
American Samoa (caucus)
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Democrats Abroad
Maine
Massachusetts
Minnesota
North Carolina
Oklahoma
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia

March 10
Idaho (20 pledged delegates)
Michigan (125)
Mississippi (36)
Missouri (68)
North Dakota (Caucus) (14)
Washington (89)

March 14
Northern Mariana (Caucus) (6)

March 17
Arizona (67)
Florida (219)
Illinois (155)
Ohio (136) (delayed to June)

March 24
Georgia (105) (delayed to June)

March 29
Puerto Rico (51)


The first debate is here. Let's do a non-scientific poll.

Who are your top five candidates in the Democratic primary? (Select up to 5)

1. Sen. Michael Bennet (Colorado) (drops out on day of NH primary)
2. Former Vice President Joe Biden
3. NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio
4. Sen. Cory Booker (New Jersey)
5. South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg (drops out 2 days before Super Tue)
6. Former Sec. of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro
7. Former Rep. John Delaney (Maryland)
8. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii) (drops out March 19)
9. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (New York)
10. Sen. Kamala Harris (California)
11. Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper
12. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee
13. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota) (drops out 1 day before Super Tue)
14. Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (Texas)
15. Rep. Tim Ryan (Ohio)
16. Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vermont) (suspends campaign April 8)
17. Rep. Eric Swalwell (California)
18. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts) (exits 2 days following Super Tue)
19. Author Marianne Williamson
20. Former tech executive Andrew Yang (drops out on day of NH primary)

If your candidates of choice are not in the list, please specify them in a post.

I voted for:

Buttigieg
Harris
Sanders
Warren

Warren
Gabbard
Ryan
Schultz

Ya know I like Guthrie . She should be the only moderator here.

Take it back . Ryan is brain damaged . Paul Tim. Never trust a Ryan

Warren is focused on her messaging
Amy is focused on trump attacks in every answer
Castro wants anyone crossing to not be charged with a crime. There’s no border with Mexico apparently.
We need to pay for illegal alien diapers and all their healthcare because...they got here apparently.
Inslee has a mouth issue and welcomes all refugees however I don’t see him making an effort to bring them to his state. Double speak
DeBlasio first interrupter . Reminds me when Kasich was on the end. We saw how that game worked.
Tulsi going full trump attack but I did like her opening description.
Castro going after Robert Francis
Roberto loves speaking Spanish for whatever reason.

New mods

Ranking people who have a chance

1. Warren
2. Biden

Warren, Booker (who need the performance tonight), and Castro have performed well. I imagine all three will still be around into the early primaries. Warren is solidifying herself as a top 3 candidate.

I also think Klobuchar did fine, and I believe she's one of the stronger candidates, but she's not going to find an audience. Her mentions of Trump, which I believe she's mostly refrained from so far, were probably suggested to her by advisers in an attempt to appeal to the left more.

Beto O'Rourke needed a strong showing here, and he didn't deliver. I never saw him as a serious contender because he just always seemed in over his head, and tonight further drives that home. He has no substance. He just isn't prepared for this. He's lucky the 2020 field is so crowded, because he'd get truly embarrassed on the debate stage with a smaller crowd.

Tim Ryan, while an obvious long-shot, basically killed his run tonight.

What do you think killed his run?

I only watched the first and a little into the second hour and the closing statements. IMO, he's quite good in delivery (clear and distinct voice and resolute posture).

His entire Afghanistan/Taliban (foreign policy) exchange with Tulsi Gabbard. It's incredibly important to make a positive early impression at this stage of the race, especially in such a crowded field, and Gabbard of all people really got the better of him here. The look on Ryan's face was very, very telling, and then his attempt to correct himself made it even worse with his 9/11 comments.

And I just saw that this resulted in Gabbard being the most searched candidate on Google during the debate, seeing a huge surge near the end to overtake Booker, Warren, etc., thanks to this moment. She's obviously a long shot as well, but this will help her remain in the discussion for a little while longer.

Warren obviously the strongest tonight, its basically her and Biden.

I think Warren, Castro had the best performances.

Warren's answers had good structure and flow and her closing was the most personal of all.

Castro gave some very good direct answers and his rebuttal of other candidates was often to the point. He was able to connect issues to Congressional politics and the related laws at hand, such as "Section 1325" and the cloture vote in the Senate.

The other candidate’s reactions to Beto jumping right in with the Spanish were great. I expect many quality memes.

Yeah it was important to distinguish herself from Hilary Clinton and she nailed it by going to her origins. It’s just a bummer she went on night 1. The “winners” of the debate will be whoever, if anyone, upstages Biden tomorrow.

It's going to be Warren or Biden. I pick Warren as the more Biden opens his mouth the worse it will get for him.

It's the sad thing about Biden, people forget how badly Sanders and Clinton killed him last time He is hands down a great man, but he is without a doubt one of the worse public speakers that has ever gone down since the invention of TV. It's really kind of shocking.

If I had a magic wand:

Warren
Harris
Castro
Sanders
Booker

probably in that order?

I think Warren will win Iowa and Nevada, but Biden will take New Hampshire. South Carolina will be a landslide in his favor though, since he's the only candidate that we all know for sure has at least two black friends.

Can't help but think of Veep when it comes to the other candidates campaigning there.

Selina: "Well we can't win the African-Americans, but what about the college-educated whites?"

Ben: "In South Carolina?"

S: "Well what about the non-educated whites. What do they want?"

B: "Well they want access to good health care, a safe environement for their children to grow up in, better jobs ...

S: "So they're the same as everyone else"

B: "You didn't let me finish. They want health care, safety and jobs to be denied to African-Americans."

My predictions just using the current Top 3:

Iowa: Warren > Biden > Sanders.
New Hampshire: Sanders > Warren > Biden.
Nevada: Warren > Sanders > Biden.
South Carolina: Biden > Warren > Sanders.

Super Tuesday:
Alabama: Biden > Warren > Sanders.
Arkansas: Biden > Warren > Sanders.
California: Warren > Sanders > Biden.
Colorado: Sanders > Biden > Warren.
Democrats Abroad: Biden > Sanders > Warren.
Maine: Sanders > Warren > Biden.
Massachusetts: Warren > Sanders > Biden.
Minnesota: Biden > Sanders > Warren. Probably the biggest toss-up.
North Carolina: Biden > Sanders > Warren.
Oklahoma: Biden > Sanders > Warren.
Tennessee: Biden > Sanders > Warren.
Texas: Biden > Warren > Sanders.
Utah: Biden > Sanders > Warren.
Vermont: Sanders > Warren > Biden.
Virginia: Biden > Warren > Sanders.

Super Tuesday doesn't have as many southern states this time, but it's still mostly southern based. So, Biden will likely have the strongest showing with Warren/Sanders splitting the more liberal states. It'll also help Biden gain the momentum going into the Super Tuesday contests following a likely South Carolina victory.

I do think Biden will continue to weaken (he simply isn't good on the campaign trail, has some political baggage, and will be at odds with the left-wing of the party), so the question to me becomes whether or not Warren or Sanders can gain the upper ground on the other and not split the votes. I could still Warren dropping out if she slips to a distant third place in delegates for the sake of the party (that's why she endorsed Clinton "early"), but we all know that Sander won't. He's way too stubborn and will stay in as long as there's a 0.001% chance he could still win (harming the party be damned).

If the race is still a three-way battle post-Super Tuesday, Biden will probably win.

Biden would be by far the best president of the democratic front runners.

"because he's the most centrist, and thus, closer to my personal beliefs"

Chippy you are a detective aren’t you!

So who would you vote for, the Centrist Biden, or the Far Right Trump?

Guess

The food fight line and subsequent speech from Kamala was quite a moment. It’s really hard to stand out in a debate like this but she came prepared and then cashed in big when she had the opportunity.