New Hampshire Democratic debate: February 7, 2020

After the chaotic Iowa caucuses, Democratic presidential candidates stepped back onto the debate stage on Friday with just a few days to make their closing arguments before the pivotal New Hampshire primary.

There was a surprising amount of unity on the stage, given this critical moment in the campaign: Sen. Bernie Sanders made the case for coming together against President Donald Trump; former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg refused to endorse Republican attacks on former Vice President Joe Biden; and moderate Sen. Amy Klobuchar went out of her way to point out the issues on which she’d worked with the lefty Sanders. But there were plenty of tense moments, too: Sanders and Biden sparred over Medicare-for-all, and Klobuchar and Buttigieg were at odds over whether political experience is baggage or an asset.

Democratic presidential contenders said they wanted to use trade to get other countries to act on climate change, but at the New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary debate on Friday, they were divided over the recent agreement between the US, Canada, and Mexico, the USMCA, signed by President Trump last month.

“The problem is, if we are going to deal with issues like climate change, not only do we in America have to take on the greed of the fossil fuel industry, we have to lead the entire world,” said Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. “But maybe, just maybe given the crisis of climate change, the world can understand that instead of spending $1.8 trillion a year collectively on weapons of destruction designed to kill each other, maybe we pool our resources and fight our common enemy, which is climate change.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders is a highly skilled politician, and at Friday night’s debate he showed it.

The Democratic Party is polarized right now between Bernie fans who insist that democratic socialism is the way forward and an establishment that’s terrified Sanders will bring electoral doom. The truth, however, is a bit more boring. Far-left politics isn’t really a winning hand, but Sanders himself is an effective player who consistently outperforms the partisan fundamentals in his races.

Billionaire activist Tom Steyer claimed during Friday night’s Democratic presidential debate that he helped eradicate private prisons in his home state of California.

But the private prison industry is still thriving there — for now.

Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren are not having it with Pete Buttigieg, as evidenced by Friday’s Democratic debate in New Hampshire.

The 38-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, has sought to cast himself as a fresh face on the political scene and play into the “Washington outsider” narrative. But Warren and Klobuchar, two deeply experienced and talented politicians who have nevertheless been dogged by questions of “electability,” are not having it.

After the chaotic Iowa caucuses, the Democratic candidates are heading to New Hampshire and stepping onstage Friday night for their next presidential primary debate.

The leading contenders for the Democratic Party’s 2020 presidential nomination will take the stage at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Friday, February 7. The debate will start at 8 pm Eastern and is expected to last about three hours.

Journalists from ABC News and WMUR, a New Hampshire affiliate of the network, will moderate the eighth Democratic debate taking place in Manchester, New Hampshire.

The debate, hosted at St. Anselm College, will be broadcast on ABC News as well as the ABC website, beginning at 8 pm ET on Friday, February 7.

The next Democratic debate will take place after the first voters have already weighed in on the 2020 race. Slated for February 7 in Manchester, New Hampshire, the debate is the first of a trio happening that month as individuals in all four early states head to the polls (or caucuses). The debate’s start time will be 8 pm ET; it’s expected to run for about three hours.

Scheduled just days after Iowa’s caucuses and less than a week before New Hampshire’s February 11 primary, the debate, hosted by ABC, WMUR-TV, and Apple News, is poised to inform last-minute voter decisions both in the state and across the country. As Vox’s Ella Nilsen reports, roughly two-thirds of voters in New Hampshire still haven’t made a final decision about their top candidate. It’s possible candidates’ last-ditch debate appearances — and arguments — could make the difference.