Houston Democratic debate: What each candidate must accomplish

[TexasTowelie]

by Jonathan Tilove, Austin American-Statesman


With Thursday’s Democratic debate at Texas Southern University in Houston, the contest for the party’s presidential nomination enters a far more focused phase.

For the first time, all the candidates who met the fundraising and polling requirements set by the Democratic National Committee — 10 in all — will be on the same stage together for three hours.

Gone are an equal number of other candidates, who were perhaps just as interesting (Where have you gone Marianne Williamson? Steve Bullock, we hardly knew ye), but ultimately distracting and with little if any chance of going the distance.

With the nation’s first nominating contest, the Iowa caucuses, more than four months away, each candidate on the stage Thursday can still claim a viable path to the nomination. The debate poses perhaps the best chance yet for those candidates struggling to gain traction, including the two Texans in the race — Beto O’Rourke and Julián Castro — to make their case.

Read more: https://www.statesman.com/news/20190907/houston-democratic-debate-what-each-candidate-must-accomplish