United States. A Biden-Warren confrontation expected during the 3rd debate of the Democratic primary

Highly anticipated after several gaffes and doubts about his form, former US Vice President Joe Biden will share Thursday for the first time the scene of a debate with the Progressive Senator Elizabeth Warren, who follows in the lead polls for the Democratic primary.

The field has tightened significantly for this third Democrat debate, with only ten candidates selected – out of the 20 contenders to the White House still in the running – for a three-hour marathon broadcast on Thursday evening. A symbol of the different currents that punctuate the candidates dreaming to challenge Donald Trump in November 2020, the moderate and big favorite polls Joe Biden will be placed in the center of the plateau, but flanked senators Warren and Bernie Sanders, who defend far more positions to the left. Their exchanges could spark.

For this first opportunity of confrontation, Elizabeth Warren could indeed choose to go on the offensive against centrist Biden, in clear pole position (29.8% according to the average polls established by RealClearPolitics). And while they had played the good-by-good deal in the previous debate, the senator and Bernie Sanders could opt for another tone now that she doubled it.

Warren in good position

After two successful debates, 70-year-old former Harvard law professor Elizabeth Warren climbed to second place, with 18 percent of the vote, ahead of independent Senator Bernie Sanders (17.7 percent). %), Dean of the race at 78 years old.

If both are clearly marked on the left, the self-proclaimed socialist is in favor of greater intervention by the state, while Elizabeth Warren, a defender of the big monopolies, has one day defined herself as a "Capitalist to the marrow", but in favor of better regulation.

"If Warren still has a good debate and continues to progress in the polls, a race for two will appear more clearly between her and Biden"writes the American election statistician, Nate Silver, on the FiveThirtyEight website. "But the reality will probably be much more complicated". At five months of the first election of the primary democrats planned in Iowa, February 3, everything can still change. Many still have in mind the polls that gave Senator Barack Obama that far behind Hillary Clinton in 2007.

Doubts about Biden

Joe Biden has multiplied in recent months the slippages perceived as more worrying than the "Blunders" who have long been the charm of one who has been a senator for more than 35 years before being vice-president (2009-2017).

Questions abound about the physical and intellectual fitness of Barack Obama's 76-year-old former right-hand man, and some wonder whether he will stand the test of this grueling campaign. But the veteran of politics has so far swept away these doubts, with the support of voters who still appreciate his genuine side and the perception that he is best able to beat Donald Trump, " the " high priority for Democratic voters.

Last chance for "small" candidates

For the first time on Thursday, the two leading women, Elizabeth Warren and Black Senator Kamala Harris (7%), will also be on the same stage. Complete the list of participants the young mayor of South Bend, Pete Buttigieg (4.3%), the businessman and only non-professional politician onstage Andrew Yang (2.7%), Senator Cory Booker (2.5%), former Texas House of Representatives Beto O'Rourke (2.3%), Senator Amy Klobuchar (1%) and former Obama Minister Julian Castro (0, 8%). This could be one of the last opportunities for these small candidates to turn things around.

Others were not selected for lack of sufficient polling scores and / or donations from individuals: New York Mayor Bill de Blasio (0.8%) and billionaire Tom Steyer (0.5%). ). Qualified or not, Nate Silver had a warning message on Tuesday for smaller candidates: "Unless they reverse the situation soon, they are probably grilled".

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United States. A Biden-Warren confrontation expected during the 3rd debate of the Democratic primaryOuest-France.fr

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