Following a week of turmoil and a trickle of results from the Iowa caucuses, all eyes will now turn toward New Hampshire for the first Democratic debate of February tonight from St. Anselm College in Manchester.
The event is sponsored by ABC News and WMUR-TV, in partnership with Apple News. Here is everything you need to know to watch the debate including tv channels, start time, candidate list, and moderators.
Debate Full Video
Watch the full debate video at the link below:
Full Debate Video: Watch Debate Video
ABC/WMUR New Hampshire Democratic Debate (8th Debate)
Time: 8 pm ET (7 pm CT, 6 pm MT, 5 pm PT)
Date: Friday, February 7, 2020
Watch On: ABC
Location: St. Anselm College in Manchester, NH
Sponsors: ABC News, WMUR, Apple News
Moderators: George Stephanopoulos, David Muir, Linsey Davis, Adam Sexton, Monica Hernandez
How to Watch
On TV: The debate will air nationally on your local ABC station, as well as WMUR-TV in the New Hampshire market.
Streaming: The debate will also be live-streamed on YouTube as well as the ABC app, ABC.com and connected devices including AppleTV, Amazon Fire TV, and Roku. The debate can also be watched in the Apple News app on Apple devices.
Debate Candidates
There will be seven Democratic candidates on stage tonight in New Hampshire.
- Former Vice President Joe Biden
- Former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg
- Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar
- Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders
- Businessman Tom Steyer
- Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren
- Businessman Andrew Yang
Andrew Yang missed the last debate in January, but some good poll numbers bumped him into contention and onto the stage for this pivotal debate before the New Hampshire primary.
Who Didn’t Qualify?
To get on stage for this debate, candidates needed to poll 5% in four national or state polls, or 7% in two single-state polls. They also needed to receive donations from 225,000 unique donors, with at least 1,000 unique contributions from at least 20 states. Alternatively, candidates could get on stage if they earned one national delegate in Iowa.
The rules for this debate have precluded former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who skipped the early states and has said he won’t solicit individual donations. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, and Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet also failed to qualify for the New Hampshire debate.
Debate Moderators
There will be a panel of five moderators for the evening consisting of several ABC News personalities along with some local correspondents from WMUR-TV in Manchester.
- ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos
- ABC World News Tonight anchor David Muir
- ABC News correspondent Linsey Davis
- WMUR political director Adam Sexton
- WMUR anchor Monica Hernandez
What to Watch For
Given the way it appears the Iowa caucus results will pan out, the battle on stage may largely be between Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg. It’s also possible that Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren will be forced to get more aggressive given their poor results in Iowa.
The political week has been wild with the caucus debacle, State of the Union address, and the impeachment acquittal. The selection of current events to pick from for moderators to prod the candidates with is seemingly endless. Look for healthcare to dominate a good portion of the discussion, especially as President Trump made healthcare a big topic in his SOTU address on Tuesday.
Which way will Pete Buttigieg decide to play things? Will he go more aggressive, or keep his calm and laid back demeanor trying to lure voters into his “middle ground” between Biden and Sanders. For that matter, Elizabeth Warren has already signaled some disgust with Buttigieg and he may be the main target of her attacks if she chooses to go on the offense. Let’s all remember the “wine cave” discussion from December. If she can’t pull out a second or third place victory in New Hampshire, she’ll have a hard time moving the needle in upcoming states.
Finally, there’s Joe Biden, who needs to hang on for dear life in the New Hampshire. He’s not going to win the state, and he knows that, but he has to finish somewhere respectably following this fourth-place Iowa finish.
More information
Following the ABC debate tonight, there will be two additional Democratic debates in February:
- Feb 19 – NBC/MSNBC/Nevada Independent debate (Nevada)
- Feb 25 – CBS/Congressional Black Caucus debate (South Carolina)
Bookmark out 2020 Democratic Debate schedule and the 2020 Primary Schedule for complete coverage.
