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2020 Democrats Spar on Foreign Policy, Electability, Free College & More at 7th Democratic Debate | DN | 01/15/20 | 44:03

What we learned about the Democratic field from Tuesday's debate
Politico | author | date

The candidates didn't clash, but they did reveal important ideological differences.

Democratic voters, especially those who don't have the time to pay close attention to politics, in polls and interviews have consistently been bewildered by the size of the field and turned off by petty fights between candidates that do little to clarify their differences. The CNN-Des Moines Register debate Tuesday night at Drake University did not feature the expected -- choose your favorite journalistic cliché -- no holds barred/gloves-are-off/there will be blood on the floor exchanges between Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, or either of them and Joe Biden.

As expected, for the first time in a debate this cycle, foreign policy featured prominently. Presidents have far more latitude over foreign policy -- where Congress can be virtually ignored -- than any other area of responsibility, and yet it has been given little attention. That's partly for political reasons. Polls show Biden, the former globe-trotting vice president and Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, with an enormous advantage on the issue, and most of his opponents don't see discussing it as beneficial to them. ... ... Read more

Trump Privately Obsessed With Bernie Sanders' Popularity and Socialism's Appeal
DailyBeast | Hanna Trudo/Asawin Suebsaeng | 01/15/20

Despite projecting confidence at the prospect of facing the senator, the president has asked multiple advisers how Sanders would perform in battleground states like Pennsylvania.

In public, President Donald Trump has fixated on mocking Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) as "crazy" and has focused on assuring supporters of how badly he'd crush the left-wing senator in a general election and protect them from Sanders' creeping socialism. In private, Trump has often expressed different worries about the 2020 candidate.

In the past two months, the president has repeatedly asked advisers, in and out of the White House, about how Sanders polls, or would likely perform, in critical battleground states, specifically Pennsylvania, according to two people who've independently heard him ask about it. At times, Trump has asked about Sanders' prospects even in the absence of a current public or internal poll on the matter. ... Read more

America's Great Divide | PBS Frontline | 01/13/20 | 1:54:18

Trump holds campaign rally in Milwaukee during Democratic debate | PBS | 01/14/20 | 2:15:15

Pelosi taps Schiff and Nadler among House impeachment managers
Axios | Alayna Treene, Jacob Knutson | 01/15/20

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Wednesday that House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) would serve among the seven individuals tapped as the House's managers during the Senate's impeachment trial for President Trump.

Why it matters: The managers will present the House's case for impeachment to convince senators to convict the president for abusing his power and obstructing Congress, and ultimately remove him from office.

Pelosi waited four weeks to name impeachment managers and deliver the articles to the Senate as part of her attempt to pressure Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to preemptively show her a Senate resolution laying out the terms for the trial, as well as an agreement on witnesses and document production at the outset of the trial. ... Read more