Former vice president Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) Will face off tonight in a one-on-one debate, the first of the Democratic primary.
The debate comes as the country grapples with an escalating coronavirus pandemic . Both Sanders and Biden have significantly scaled back their campaign events in recent days in response to the novel virus, canceling mass gatherings in favor of online events.
Those decisions come as states consider whether to hold votes at all. Already, Louisiana and Georgia have announced they will postpone their primaries.
But the four states scheduled to hold primaries Tuesday – Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Ohio – announced last week that their contests would proceed as planned. They pointed to guidance from public health officials, who have declared voting safe if best practices are followed.
March , at 6: ED EDT
Sanders has had plenty to say about the coronavirus crisis during the past week, using the moment to amplify his calls for universal health care and other benefits for working-class Americans.
He has issued blunt warnings that Trump has mishandled the spread of the virus. And he has repeatedly returned to a core theme of his campaign – that government needs to do more to look out for those with the least.
The senator from Vermont has long championed a Medicare-for -all system in which the government provides health insurance. The urgency of enacting that program has come into even sharper focus during this crisis, Sanders and his allies have argued. In the meantime, Sanders has said, the government should create an emergency system “guaranteeing health care to all people in the midst of this crisis. End of discussion. ”
He has also called for greater protections for homeless people, urged moratoriums on evictions, foreclosures and utility shut-offs and advocated new safeguards to protect people from losing wages if they are home sick.
The bill the House passed last week addressed some of these things but did not go far enough, Sanders has said. “I myself would have gone further,” he told supporters on Saturday night in a talk broadcast online. The toll of the virus might be catastrophic, Sanders has warned – on the scale of a “major war.”
Sanders has also highlighted the ways his campaign has adapted to the changing times. His staff has been ordered to work from home. Door-to-door campaigning is not happening anymore. Instead, officials have set up remote events, such as a virtual rally planned for Monday night.
) By Sean Sullivan
March , (at 6:) PM EDT
Biden campaign outlines debate strategy
Biden has a distinct challenge tonight: He must parry attacks and go on the offensive against Sanders, all while showing Sanders supporters they have a place in Biden’s campaign.
“Joe Biden will make it clear to Senator Sanders’s supporters that there’s space for them,” a senior adviser said on a Sunday afternoon conference call. “We’re also going to welcome their ideas, their passion and their commitment to the issues that they care so deeply about.”
Biden has amassed a significant delegate lead over the past several weeks , giving him a distinct advantage in the race for the Democratic nomination. As he attempts to solidify his standing, he’s shown a willingness to listen to and adopt the plans of former opponents. It is a clear effort to reach younger and more liberal voters, who have traditionally backed Sanders.
On Sunday, Biden announced a proposal to make public colleges and universities free for families who make less than $ 125, a year. On Friday, he adopted Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s bankruptcy plan, which would make it easier for people to go through the bankruptcy process and would allow student loan debt to be discharged just like any other debt.
Biden also put forward a plan to combat the coronavirus, as the pandemic forces Americans to endure drastic changes to work and social life.
Biden’s campaign has drafted a coronavirus plan that has sought, among other things, to contrast itself to the widely criticized missteps of the Trump administration. Biden stressed that his administration’s effort to combat the spread of the virus would not be politicized and would lean on the expertise of scientists and public health experts.
In speeches and interviews, he has stressed that the Obama administration capably handled similar epidemics but that the infrastructure they left behind was disregarded by the Trump administration. Biden’s proposal would implement measures that would use free testing, additional access to treatment and surged health-care funding to combat the virus itself. He would also implement an economic response, aiding individuals sickened by the virus and their families, as well as state and local governments.
By Cleve Wootson
March , at 6: PM EDT
Georgia on Saturday became the second state to postpone its presidential primary because of the escalating coronavirus pandemic , yet another indication of how completely the outbreak has reshaped the race for the White House.
The Georgia primary, ori ginally scheduled for March 28, has been moved to May 24.
“Events are moving rapidly and my highest priority is protecting the health of our poll workers, their families, and the community at large,” Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said in a written statement announcing the delay.
The state currently has 45 reported cases of the novel coronavirus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Gov. Brian Kemp (R) declared a state of emergency Saturday morning, following President Trump’s decision on Friday to declare a national emergency.
The delay spotlights the difficulty of reconciling public health with voter access. That issue is especially fraught in Georgia, where the 2018 governor’s race prompted outcry from civil rights groups about the rejection of absentee ballots and the closure of polling places in predominantly black neighborhoods, among other concerns.
The move from Raffensperger (R ) follows a decision on Friday by election officials in Louisiana to delay that state’s primary from April 4 to June
S anders pledges to push Biden on ‘most important questions’ during debate
In a preview of his strategy, Sanders said Saturday night that he intends to force a discussion on issues central to his campaign during the debate. And he argued the congressional response to the coronavirus crisis should have been stronger.
“I’m going to demand that we discuss the most important questions, which have to do with power structure in America,” said Sanders, who accused the media of not drawing enough attention to those topics in earlier debates. He said he was “looking forward” to the debate and hoped “we can explore some of the real issues facing this country.”
“My impression is that Nancy Pelosi and the House leadership made a good-faith effort to try to do some very important things. I myself would have gone further, ”he said, adding,“ they ran into opposition from the Trump administration, so they had to water down what they ended up passing. ”
Sanders spoke in what his campaign billed as a “fireside chat” from his home in Vermont. Seated near a wood-burning stove, the senator ticked through the questions he said he planned to ask Biden, echoing his comments from a news conference earlier in the week.
“Joe has been part of the establishment for a very long time. Joe, what role have you played in trying to make sure we end this massive level of income and wealth inequality? ” Sanders said, adding he would also press Biden over his support from wealthy trust.
In a preview of his strategy, Sanders said Saturday night that he intends to force a discussion on issues central to his campaign during the debate. And he argued the congressional response to the coronavirus crisis should have been stronger.
“I’m going to demand that we discuss the most important questions, which have to do with power structure in America,” said Sanders, who accused the media of not drawing enough attention to those topics in earlier debates. He said he was “looking forward” to the debate and hoped “we can explore some of the real issues facing this country.”
“My impression is that Nancy Pelosi and the House leadership made a good-faith effort to try to do some very important things. I myself would have gone further, ”he said, adding,“ they ran into opposition from the Trump administration, so they had to water down what they ended up passing. ”
Sanders spoke in what his campaign billed as a “fireside chat” from his home in Vermont. Seated near a wood-burning stove, the senator ticked through the questions he said he planned to ask Biden, echoing his comments from a news conference earlier in the week.
“Joe has been part of the establishment for a very long time. Joe, what role have you played in trying to make sure we end this massive level of income and wealth inequality? ” Sanders said, adding he would also press Biden over his support from wealthy trust.
(By Sean Sullivan
March 20, (5): PM EDT
Biden holds big lead in new poll
A poll of Democratic primary voters conducted by the Wall Street Journal and NBC News shows a significant consolidation of support behind Biden , emphasizing Sanders’s inability to broaden his support the way Biden has over the past few weeks.
Biden’s swift transformation into consensus front-runner followed a decisive win in South Carolina, at which point multiple candidates who had be en splitting the loyalties of the electorate dropped out and endorsed the former vice president.
But even after fellow liberal-leaning Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) Dropped out of the race last week, Sanders’s support jumped just five points – to 35 percent – in a much smaller field. And the poll showed reason to believe it won’t grow much further: In the Wall Street Journal / NBC News poll conducted a month ago, percent of Democratic primary voters said they had decided on a candidate. In this poll, 80 percent said their minds were made up.
The poll also underscored Biden’s support with one of the most crucial groups within the Democratic Party, black voters, who said they prefer him to Sanders (percent to) (percent.
A poll of Democratic primary voters conducted by the Wall Street Journal and NBC News shows a significant consolidation of support behind Biden , emphasizing Sanders’s inability to broaden his support the way Biden has over the past few weeks.
Biden’s swift transformation into consensus front-runner followed a decisive win in South Carolina, at which point multiple candidates who had be en splitting the loyalties of the electorate dropped out and endorsed the former vice president.
But even after fellow liberal-leaning Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) Dropped out of the race last week, Sanders’s support jumped just five points – to 35 percent – in a much smaller field. And the poll showed reason to believe it won’t grow much further: In the Wall Street Journal / NBC News poll conducted a month ago, percent of Democratic primary voters said they had decided on a candidate. In this poll, 80 percent said their minds were made up.
The poll also underscored Biden’s support with one of the most crucial groups within the Democratic Party, black voters, who said they prefer him to Sanders (percent to) (percent.
Biden unveils plan to make college free for families who make less than $ , a year )
On Sunday, Joe Biden unveiled a proposal to make public college free for families who make less than $ , a year, part of his campaign’s broader effort to court younger and more liberal voters. Biden has also said he wants to invest $ 80 billion in historically black colleges and minority-serving institutions.
Free college tuition has been a staple of Bernie Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg.
On Friday, Biden also adopted Warren’s bankruptcy plan which, would make it easier for people to go through the bankruptcy process and would allow student loan debt to be discharged just like any other debt.
“Vice President Biden is and, as president, will be open to the best ideas … regardless, quite frankly, of where they come from, ”a Biden adviser said.
Shortly after Biden’s announcement, Sanders released a statement saying,“ it’s great that Joe Biden is now supporting a position that was in the Democratic platform four years ago. Now we have to go much further. We need to make all public universities, colleges and trade schools tuition-free for everyone like our high schools are. We need to cancel all student debt. “
(By
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings