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A4 U.S. NEWS
Tuesday 18 February 2020

2020 Watch: Who can show strength with voters of color?

By STEVE PEOPLES member: He needed only
AP National Political Writer 26% to win New Hampshire.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Presi- Democrats who prefer a
dential politics move fast. center-left nominee need
What we're watching the moderate lane to con-
heading into a new week solidate in a hurry, although
on the 2020 campaign: it would be a surprise to
___ see any of the leading
Days to Nevada caucuses: moderate candidates get
5 knocked out in Nevada.
Days to general election: Will Trump's turnout ma-
260 chine keep rolling?
___ There is no serious primary
THE NARRATIVE contest on the Republican
With Iowa and New Hamp- side, but Trump found a
shire behind them, the way to generate extraordi-
Democrats' 2020 field lurch- nary Republican turnout in
es toward a decidedly Iowa and New Hampshire
more diverse set of voters this month, shattering re-
and, with them, huge new cent incumbent presidents'
tests for the leading can- turnout totals. Trump has
didates. After winning (or hosted local rallies before
tying) in Iowa and in New each of the first two con-
Hampshire, Bernie Sanders tests, as he will do in Ne-
is looking to Latinos to build vada later this week. Yet
a delegate lead that could we suspect the turnout has
make him difficult to catch more to do with the Trump
after Super Tuesday. Pete Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., makes a point during a campaign campaign's vaunted data
Buttigieg and Amy Klobu- stop late Sunday, Feb. 16, 2020, in Denver. operation, which appears
char are fighting to prove Associated Press to be light years ahead of
their embarrassing poll- where it was four years ago.
ing numbers with people Biden certainly hasn't in- be forced to perform on a caused trouble in Iowa and Either way, a third consecu-
of color don't reflect real- spired confidence on that debate stage far grander has scrambled to come up tive strong showing would
ity on the ground. And it's front. Can anyone take ad- than when he was running with a new system to tabu- be cause for concern
put-up-or-shut-up time for vantage? On paper, But- for mayor of New York. He late results. Party officials in- for Democrats who have
Joe Biden and Elizabeth tigieg and Klobuchar have is the untested newcomer, sist they're confident about claimed a consistent en-
Warren, who need a strong the most to gain as black so look for his rivals to go the changes. We'll forgive thusiasm advantage in the
showing to prove they still and brown voters weigh after him early and often. you if you're skeptical. Trump era so far.
belong in the race. Oh, and in. And Sanders is looking Even before new questions Does the moderate mud- ___
if Mike Bloomberg qualifies to Latinos to prove he, not surfaced about allegations dle get worse? THE FINAL THOUGHT
for Wednesday's debate, Biden, is best positioned to of sexual harassment at his Some establishment- It's later than you think in
he'll be forced to perform assemble a winning coali- company, the 78-year-old minded Democrats tell us the Democrats' 2020 nomi-
under the brightest lights of tion. The question of minor- billionaire former Republi- they're increasingly con- nation fight. By the end of
his career. ity support is perhaps the can had a lot to prove. cerned that the glut of Super Tuesday, in just 15
THE BIG QUESTIONS most significant unknown in Will we see another caucus center-left Democrats is days, more than one third
Who can show strength the 2020 contest. And Ne- meltdown? essentially clearing the of all delegates will be
with voters of color? vada will begin to answer it After a drama-free primary way for Sanders to win the awarded. Smart campaign
Biden's shockingly bad on Saturday. election in New Hamp- nomination. There are at operatives tell us that del-
finishes in Iowa and New Will the elephant be in the shire, we're back to an- least four prominent mod- egate allocation rules will
Hampshire have forced room? other quirky caucus system erates fighting to emerge make it extremely difficult
voters and pundits alike to Bloomberg has risen in the in Nevada run by a state as the Sanders alternative: for anyone to catch a can-
question their underlying as- polls and become one political party. Tensions Buttigieg, Klobuchar, Biden didate who emerges from
sumption about the former of Washington's favorite are understandably high and Bloomberg. And as we Super Tuesday with a sig-
vice president's strength candidates largely on the given the caucus disaster saw in 2016 with Trump, the nificant lead. That means
with people of color. Like strength of his saturation lev- in Iowa (which STILL hasn't longer they stay in the race that absent a contested
most Democratic primary el TV ads, resume and bank reported final results two and split up the anti-Sand- convention, the Democrat-
voters, minority voters care account. If he qualifies for weeks later). The Nevada ers vote the easier it will be ic primary could be effec-
most about picking some- Wednesday's debate — he State Democratic Party for Sanders to win contests tively over far sooner than
one who can defeat Presi- needs one more show of abandoned its plans to use with a relatively low per- any of the candidates will
dent Donald Trump. And strength in polling — he will an app like the one that centage of the vote. Re- admit.q