Democratic debates, sanders on socialism, new polls: This week in the 2020 race

It’s a quick way to follow the presidential campaign and the sprawling field of 23 Democratic candidates. Trust us, we know how hard it is to keep up.

The debate lineups take shape

After countless pleas to donors from candidates, much media prognostication and more than a little complaining, the Democratic National Committee pared the historically large field of presidential candidates who will appear in the first debates to 20. (Sorry, Gov. Steve Bullock of Montana, Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts and Mayor Wayne Messam of Miramar, Florida.)

Then NBC News stepped in Friday and set the lineups for the pair of debates, which are slated for later this month in Miami.

The second night will be stacked: Former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Sen. Kamala Harris of California and Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, will share the stage June 27.

The first night will be, well, less stacked, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts seems poised to dominate. She’ll square off against former Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas, Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey and others June 26.

Trump and Biden spar in Iowa

According to Biden, President Donald Trump poses “an existential threat” to the country, its international standing and its values.

Biden, Trump said, was “a loser,” “a sleepy guy” and “the weakest mentally” — a candidate whom “people don’t respect.”

Our colleagues in Iowa followed Biden and Trump as they traveled through the battleground state Tuesday, calling it “the most ferocious day of attacks in the 6-month-old presidential campaign” — and one that offered voters a preview of what a general election matchup between the two men might look like.

Sanders leans in to democratic socialism

In an aggressive attempt to defuse voter concerns about his electability, Sanders sought to define his brand of democratic socialism in a speech in Washington on Wednesday.

Sanders presented his vision of the ideology not as a set of extreme principles, but as a matter of “economic rights.” And he argued that his core political beliefs are embodied by long-standing, popular programs like Social Security and Medicare.

“Today in the 21st century, we must take up the unfinished business of the New Deal and carry it to completion,” he said.

Insights from a pair of polls

It can seem like a new poll is released every day, and national polls may not tell us much about an election in which states carry the weight.

But we were struck by a new Quinnipiac University poll that showed only 10 candidates for the Democratic nomination registering any support. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Julián Castro, the former housing secretary, were among those who failed to reach the 1% mark.

Monmouth University also released its first survey of Nevada Democratic voters this past week, which showed Warren ahead of Sanders in the state. She trailed only Biden, who maintained a comfortable lead in Nevada, a key early-voting state.

A plan to address lead poisoning

Remember Flint? At least one candidate does.

Last weekend, Castro became the first Democratic presidential candidate to visit Flint, Michigan. Then, on Monday, he released a plan to combat lead poisoning. The plan called for a presidential task force to examine the major public health issue, as well as for increases in funding for lead remediation.

The proposal from Castro, who also participated in a Fox News town hall during the week, at least momentarily placed the spotlight back on the clean water crisis in Flint. More than five years in, it’s still far from over. As The Times reported earlier this year, the mayor of Flint is still telling residents to drink only bottled or filtered water.

“We’re back to where we first started, where we’re yelling and screaming,” a community advocate, Melissa Mays, said. “And it seems like nobody can hear us.”

And in other policy news:

— O’Rourke released a plan to protect LGBTQ rights, as well as a voter registration tool kit.

— Harris released what she called a “road map to citizenship” for the hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants known as Dreamers.

— And Warren said she would create a “Small Business Equity Fund” of $7 billion to help level the playing field for entrepreneurs of color.

Democratic debates, sanders on socialism, new polls: This week in the 2020 race

Enhance Your Pulse News Experience!

JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!