Largest-ever line-up of Democrat presidential hopefuls begin first primary debate
- 5 years ago
The 2020 U.S. presidential election is still around 500 days away, but the competition is already reaching fever pitch.
A record number of Democrats will battle it out on Wednesday at the first of two primary debates.
But will the party taking on the incumbent president, Donald Trump, have strength in numbers or end up tearing each other apart?
Our Oh Soo-young reports.
The race is on to clinch the nomination for the Democratic Party's next presidential candidate for 2020.
Some 20 democrats are holding the first round of primary debates... on Wednesday and Thursday local time,... the largest number of primary contenders in modern political history.
" When there are a lot of candidates, you are able to debate out policy and be able to find the best nominee for your party. There's a sense after the 2016 election that Hilary Clinton was kind of anointed and was the presumptive nominee for so long that no one else really had the chance to be able to challenge her or really decide whether or not she was the best person for that time, for that party and for the country."
To qualify for the third round of debates,... candidates must receive at least two percent of public support in four major polls recognized by the Democratic Party.
Funding is another hurdle.
To qualify for participation in the third and fourth debate rounds,... candidates must attract at least 130-thousand unique donors, double the number required for the first two debates.
"President Trump certainly was good at capitalizing on really big moments online and generate a lot of donations. But because there are so many candidates on the left,they are really struggling to find how to find that moment, how to capitalize off of that, how to raise money off of that because no one candidates so far is able to garner all the attention and the momentum it takes to become the nominee"
Also, observers say the sheer quantity of candidates may not necessarily translate to strength in numbers for the Democrats,... who need a strong and united agenda that can appeal to the broader public.
""I think you'll hear a lot about Medicare, student debt relief from different candidates but I think that kind of message will probably be too left for the general public. So the messaging will have to change if they go to the national election against Trump. The difficulty here is if the economy is still going well in the U.S. and Trump has had a great advantage in that regard."
Most polls indicate former Vice President Joe Biden is the frontrunner, followed by Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren who appear to be neck and neck.
Six of the Democratic Party's twelve debates will take place in 2019.
The first nomination ballots will be cast in Iowa in February.
Oh Soo-young, Arirang News.
A record number of Democrats will battle it out on Wednesday at the first of two primary debates.
But will the party taking on the incumbent president, Donald Trump, have strength in numbers or end up tearing each other apart?
Our Oh Soo-young reports.
The race is on to clinch the nomination for the Democratic Party's next presidential candidate for 2020.
Some 20 democrats are holding the first round of primary debates... on Wednesday and Thursday local time,... the largest number of primary contenders in modern political history.
" When there are a lot of candidates, you are able to debate out policy and be able to find the best nominee for your party. There's a sense after the 2016 election that Hilary Clinton was kind of anointed and was the presumptive nominee for so long that no one else really had the chance to be able to challenge her or really decide whether or not she was the best person for that time, for that party and for the country."
To qualify for the third round of debates,... candidates must receive at least two percent of public support in four major polls recognized by the Democratic Party.
Funding is another hurdle.
To qualify for participation in the third and fourth debate rounds,... candidates must attract at least 130-thousand unique donors, double the number required for the first two debates.
"President Trump certainly was good at capitalizing on really big moments online and generate a lot of donations. But because there are so many candidates on the left,they are really struggling to find how to find that moment, how to capitalize off of that, how to raise money off of that because no one candidates so far is able to garner all the attention and the momentum it takes to become the nominee"
Also, observers say the sheer quantity of candidates may not necessarily translate to strength in numbers for the Democrats,... who need a strong and united agenda that can appeal to the broader public.
""I think you'll hear a lot about Medicare, student debt relief from different candidates but I think that kind of message will probably be too left for the general public. So the messaging will have to change if they go to the national election against Trump. The difficulty here is if the economy is still going well in the U.S. and Trump has had a great advantage in that regard."
Most polls indicate former Vice President Joe Biden is the frontrunner, followed by Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren who appear to be neck and neck.
Six of the Democratic Party's twelve debates will take place in 2019.
The first nomination ballots will be cast in Iowa in February.
Oh Soo-young, Arirang News.