Biden, Sanders to face off amid virus crisis
Presidential debate seen as chance to project leadership and stability as pandemic deepens
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Former US vice-president Joe Biden (far left) and Senator Bernie Sanders at a Democratic presidential debate last month. Their debate today will take place in a Washington, DC studio with no audience, to limit possible exposure to the virus, in a sign of how deeply the campaign routine has been reshaped by the pandemic.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
WASHINGTON • Mr Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders will square off in the first one-on-one debate of the Democratic presidential campaign today, amid a widening crisis over the coronavirus outbreak that has dramatically upended Americans' daily lives.
They will face off for two hours from 8pm local time (8am today, Singapore time).
The showdown between Mr Biden and his last viable rival in Mr Sanders - originally scheduled for Phoenix, Arizona - will take place in a Washington, DC studio with no audience, to limit possible exposure to the virus, in a sign of how deeply the campaign routine has been reshaped by the pandemic.
The debate, perhaps the last in the Democratic race to pick an election challenger to Republican President Donald Trump, will give Mr Biden and Mr Sanders an opportunity to project leadership and a sense of calm and stability in a deepening crisis.
"People have been anxious to beat Trump, but now with coronavirus, they are just anxious," said Democratic strategist Karen Finney, who was an aide to former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
"This will be a chance for both of them to look presidential."
The encounter will provide clues about how far Mr Biden, the former vice-president and centrist standard-bearer, might go to seek party unity for the Nov 3 general election and court the progressive supporters of Mr Sanders and Senator Elizabeth Warren.
The Massachusetts senator had dropped her White House bid earlier this month but has not endorsed anyone.
The debate comes ahead of tomorrow's primaries in the big states of Ohio, Illinois, Florida and Arizona.
Another string of Biden victories there would give him a nearly unassailable lead over Mr Sanders, a democratic socialist senator from Vermont. Mr Biden leads the overall race as well, with 878 delegates to Mr Sanders' 725.
To win the nomination, a candidate needs a majority of 1,991.
Despite a sweeping series of primary victories by Mr Biden in the past two weeks, Mr Sanders has vowed to stay in the race and keep pushing his anti-corporate economic agenda.
He has criticised Mr Biden for opposing his signature Medicare for All proposal, which would replace private health insurance with a government-run system.
Mr Biden argues the plan is too costly and pledges to build on the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, by adding a public option for those who want it.
The debate will be the first hint of whether Mr Sanders is more interested in attacking Mr Biden or engaging in a measured policy discussion.
"Sanders' attitude and approach to this debate will probably give us some insight into how he intends to wage his own campaign," said Professor Emeritus Alan Schroeder, a debate expert at Northeastern University.
The lack of an audience during the debate could lead to a quiet and low-energy event, creating an atmosphere that could be less conducive to the sort of fiery clashes that dominated earlier Democratic debates that featured cheering crowds and multiple candidates.
But the one-on-one debate format also adds a degree of unpredictability and could present a challenge to Mr Biden.
He has turned in a few weak debate performances, and will be the centre of attention and talk much more than in earlier encounters.
"If Biden has a bad night, that could shift the narrative a little bit and create some uncertainty," Ms Finney said.
REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
