The stage is set for third Democratic debate at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire. The candidates haven't hit the debate stage since Nov. 14, and there have been some big developments in the race since then.
Hillary Clinton is still the overall front-runner nationally, but she's trailing Bernie Sanders in New Hampshire, the very state where the third debate is being held, where he collected 50 percent of the likely Democratic voters support, according to a recent CNN/WUR poll. The first primary election will take place in New Hampshire less than two months away, and the Iowa caucus is closing in as well. Sanders has also closed the gap in Iowa, with a recent poll from the Des Moines Register seeing him trailing by only nine points.
Clinton currently leads with 53.8 percent, Sanders is in second with 30.6 percent, and O'Malley follows with 2.7 percent, according to the Huffington Post. O'Malley's and Sanders' campaigns have both registered complaints about the debate schedule - most of the DNC's debates take place on Saturdays or Sundays - as being biased toward Clinton.
Since the last debate – which took place just one day after the Nov. 13 Paris attacks – additional gun violence has occurred across America, including the San Bernardino shootings on Dec. 2. The topic of gun control has been debated by the Democratic candidates before, and it's sure to be revisited again on Saturday evening. On a related note, Donald Trump's most recent comments on Muslim refugees and the Middle East will no doubt be addressed. Clinton got a head start on rebutting Trump's foreign policy statements earlier this week, reported WMUR, while skirting the lastest revelation about sharing top secret emails while she was Obama's Secretary of State.
This debate also comes on the heels of a potential setback for Sanders: the Democratic National Committee punished his campaign for accessing confidential Hillary Clinton voter information by way of a software error, according to CNN. The staffer who accessed the information was fired on Friday, and Sanders' spokesman Michael Briggs was quoted as saying, "Sadly, the vendor who runs the DNC's voter file program continues to make serious errors. On more than one occasion, the vendor has dropped the firewall between the data of different Democratic campaigns," as reported by HNGN.
With so much to address, this third debate has the potential for more fireworks than the last debate, which was more like an infomercial.
What: The third Democratic presidential debate will be on air at 8:00 p.m., on Dec. 19.
Where: Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H.
Who: Moderators include David Muir, anchor of "World News Tonight," as well as Martha Raddatz, ABC News' chief global affairs correspondent.
Candidates participating
8:00 p.m. debate - Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be center state flanked by Sen. Bernie Sanders, and former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley.
Rules
The three remaining candidates for the Democratic nomination all qualify for the debate stage, but ABC has announced that it will not release any information regarding the formatting or topics prior to the airing of the debate, according to Politico.
How To Watch
The debate will air on ABC, and will be live streamed online at no charge on ABC's website, with no cable subscription necessary to watch.
Online: Follow HNGN's President and editorial director Michael Bullerdick (@mbullerdick) for his live tweets during both events!
Bullerdick's Predictions: Clinton and Sanders positions are so similar that there's not much to debate, but they'll continue the charade in the event that the DNC strategically scheduled in television's dead zone made worse because it falls on the last weekend before the Christmas holiday. Audience numbers will be almost as low as public interest in what candidate Martin O'Malley has to say.
Drinking games!
After a calculated, deep investigation, we found these sites' drinking games to be most exciting and fun for viewers, regardless of party affiliation. Or if you are solely watching to get drunk.
A word to the wise, though! Know your limit and drink in moderation, because as Surgeon General Vivek Murthy points out, "You simply can't drink every time one of these guys says something silly... It's just a formula for disaster."
This is only the third debate of the 2016 presidential cycle. Many more are set to take place. Some have exact dates and sponsors already set, while others are still being planned. Check below to see all of the debates scheduled between now and election day 2016, courtesy of USPresidentialElectionNews.com.
Remaining Debate Schedule
Sunday, January 17, 2016
NBC News Democratic Primary Debate
Location: Charleston, South Carolina
Sponsors: NBC, Congressional Black Caucus Institute
Candidates: TBD
Thursday, February 11, 2016
PBS Democratic Primary Debate
Location: Wisconsin
Sponsors: PBS
Candidates: TBD
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
Univision Democratic Primary Debate
Location: Miami Dade College in Miami, Florida
Sponsors: Univision, The Washington Post
Candidates: TBD
