Biden, Warren, Sanders face scrutiny at Dem debate

WESTERVILLE, Ohio — A dozen Democratic presidential candidates will meet on Tuesday for the most crowded presidential debate in modern history. But it’s the three leading candidates — Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren — who face the most intense spotlight that could expose glaring liabilities in their quest for the White House.

The debate marks the first time the candidates will meet since the House moved forward with an impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump. While they are united on that issue, the debate will again expose a political party struggling to coalesce around a unifying message or messenger with the first primary contest just over three months away. The event, hosted by CNN and The New York Times, will be held in Ohio, a state that has long helped decide presidential elections but has drifted away from Democrats in recent years.

Sanders, a Vermont senator, will be under pressure to prove he has the physical and mental stamina to stand on a podium for three hours less than two weeks after suffering a heart attack. Age was already a concern for the 78-year-old even before he was taken to a Nevada hospital earlier this month and had two stents put in to clear a clogged artery in his heart.

Warren faces jabs about her intense focus on detailed liberal policies that may be difficult to implement with a divided Congress.

Republicans, meanwhile, have raised questions about whether Warren, 70, was actually forced from her teaching job because of a pregnancy nearly a half century ago, a claim that has become a core part of her personal message. Critics have pointed to past speeches and documents that suggest she left on her own. Warren is standing by her story.

Biden enters his fourth debate under the weight of intensifying questions from Trump about his family’s work overseas.

Trump has repeatedly said that Biden’s 49-yearold son, Hunter, improperly profited from work in Ukraine and China while the elder Biden was vice president. Trump also insists that Biden used his office to protect his son from allegations of wrongdoing.

Many other candidates, meanwhile, are fighting for their very political survival.

The debate will also feature Buttigieg, California Sen. Kamala Harris, New York entrepreneur Andrew Yang, former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, former Obama housing chief Julian Castro, billionaire activist Tom Steyer and Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.