Why candidates must go “all in” in Vegas
If the presidential primaries were this Monday, Hillary Clinton would win the democratic nomination with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders finishing second according to most polls. But there won’t be any actual voting for several months, and between now and the first caucuses in February, a lot could change.
Tuesday night’s debate is the candidates first toe-to-toe test on a national stage. 47 ABC sat down with Mitch Crane, chairman for the Sussex County Democratic Committee, who called the debate pivotal for all candidates.
“Sanders and Clinton cannot make mistakes and if they make mistakes then they’re going to have a hard time continuing after that point. And they’ll be tough questions for each one of them I’m sure,” Crane said.
While Tuesday may largely be about a night free of mistakes for Clinton and Sanders, Crane said the lesser known candidates will have to make a splash. Former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, former Virginia senator Jim Webb and former Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee are each polling below two percent.
Crane said they’ll have to go all in in Vegas to show voters who they really are.
“It’s their opportunity to show that they’re qualified candidates, to show their personalities and to some how differentiate themselves from the other candidates, I think it’s a difficult thing,” Crane said.
As for the elephant, or in this case the donkey in the room, Crane addressed rumours that Vice President Joe Biden could appear unannounced at the debate to declare his candidacy.
“There are a lot of logistics, there’s debate preparation, as brilliant and well versed as (Biden) is you still have to prepare for a debate, just like a brilliant lawyer still has to prepare for trial, I think it’s extremely unlikely almost impossible he’ll show up,” Crane said.
The debate airs at 8:30 p.m.
Joe Biden’s office was not able to be reached for this story. As of now there is no official word on whether Biden will enter the race for the democratic nomination.
