(Bloomberg) -- Pete Buttigieg and Elizabeth Warren’s battle for well-educated voters could erupt at Thursday’s Democratic debate even as the seven candidates on the stage try to maintain a unified front against the man one of them will face next year, President Donald Trump.
The contenders will gather for the three-hour debate in Los Angeles at 8 p.m. Eastern time, a far smaller contingent than previous encounters, giving the increasingly aggressive top-tier candidates more time to air their differences.
Buttigieg, who’s risen to the top in Iowa as he’s become more critical of his opponents, will likely try to solidify his advantage and spread it beyond the first state on the Democrats’ nominating calendar.
He and Warren could bring their campaign trail bickering to the stage at Loyola Marymount University after spending weeks sniping at each other’s health care plans, work experience and transparency in fund-raising.
Progressive Bernie Sanders and moderate Amy Klobuchar are likely to fight to make themselves a part of the conversation along their respective ideological lines; neither has been shy about doing so during previous debates. Klobuchar, like Tom Steyer and Andrew Yang, will try to deliver zingers and have other moments that could spark voter interest.
And while Joe Biden will yet again be placed at center stage as he continues to lead in national and most state polls, he could just stay out of the fray and avoid doing harm to his candidacy. On Thursday, Biden aides said the former vice president will stay focused on Trump and will not attack other Democratic candidates unless they go after him first. As at other debates, he aims to argue that he’s the most prepared to lead on foreign policy and unite the country.
Cory Booker, who didn’t qualify for the debate, will make his presence known with a campaign ad that will air during the debate.
The California debate is the final gathering of the top-polling Democratic candidates before the 2020 calendar year begins, but there’s still one more debate -- set for Jan. 14 in Des Moines -- before the Iowa caucus on Feb. 3. There will be three more debates in New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, before California, Texas and more than a dozen other states hold their primaries on Super Tuesday, March 3.
Health care will continue to be a key issue and a proxy for Democrats’ broader divide over just how large and partisan their plans for government should be. Warren has tempered her backing of Sanders’ Medicare for All, now saying it will be a choice until she can enact the full government-run health care in her third year in office.
The three senators on stage -- Sanders, Warren and Klobuchar -- are now future jurors whose answers about the coming impeachment trial may be closely parsed.
On other key issues, the candidates have largely avoided weighing in on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, that’s supported by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka but also gives Trump a big win.
The candidates on stage Thursday will be less diverse than previous debates, now that Kamala Harris -- one of California’s two senators -- has dropped out and Booker failed to qualify for the December debate’s more stringent polling thresholds. Julian Castro has failed to qualify for the last two debates and Deval Patrick, the former Massachusetts governor who entered the race last month, failed to meet either polling or fund-raising metrics to make it on stage.
Also in the race but not qualifying for the debate are Michael Bennet, John Delaney, Marianne Williamson and Michael Bloomberg, who is not accepting campaign donations, one of the Democratic National Committee’s requirements to get on stage. Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.
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