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Westerville, Ohio (CNN) - Twelve aspiring Democratic presidents will take the stage at Otterbein University on Tuesday during a whirlwind of news in Washington and on the other side of the world.
MIRA: Follow the Democratic debate on CNN live
Since the Democrats took the stage for the last time in September, Democrats in the House of Representatives have opened a political trial investigation to President Donald Trump for his attempts to pressure Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden, and denounce his possible rival in the general elections. Trump's former advisers and diplomats are being summoned and called to the Capitol to speak with Congress about the president.
And Trump's decision to withdraw troops from Syria has given way to Turkey to attack the Allied Kurdish forces of the United States, a decision that has been condemned by Democrats and Republicans alike.
The debate represents a series of firsts in the race to face Trump: it is the first time that Biden enters the stage of the debate without being the clear favorite of the race, a position he now shares with Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren; it is the first time that Vermont senator Bernie Sanders will return to the campaign since he suffered a heart attack earlier this month; and the first time, twelve applicants will be on stage at the same time.
And on Tuesday it could represent the last time four applicants get this kind of national attention: only eight of the candidates on stage have qualified for the November debate in Georgia, leaving four applicants: Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, former representative Beto O'Rourke, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Julian Castro, and representative Tulsi Gabbard, with the real possibility that Tuesday's debate is the last one.
This is what you have to keep in mind during the Tuesday night debate:
Warren enters the post of favorite
When the Democrats met in Houston last month for the third party debate, Warren had reached Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and shared second place.
And the senator has continued to climb from there, reaching Biden in a series of national and state surveys.
A Quinnipiac survey published earlier this month found that Warren is in a statistical tie with Biden nationwide: the Massachusetts senator has 29% and the former vice president 26%. State polls in Iowa and New Hampshire have also shown a tight race between the two Democrats, while polls in South Carolina show Biden with a considerable advantage.
LOOK: Warren was asked about marriage and faith, and his response went viral
Warren enters the debate with a confidence gained, one that has been exhibited in crowded demonstrations throughout the country.
But, as Biden can attest to after the first three debates, the center of the stage is often the focus of the most direct attacks, which means that Warren enters Tuesday's debate as the most likely target for applicants seeking to make themselves. a name damaging the new favorite of the race.
And Warren's opponents have already started targeting his candidacy.
South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg suggested his small dollar fundraising strategy will not defeat Trump. Biden told his followers earlier this month that having plans "is not enough" and that the country will not support "choosing a planner." And Sanders has criticized Warren for being a "full-time capitalist."
"And I am not," Sanders said.
Biden's son appears in the spotlight
Joe Biden may be on stage tonight, but it is his son, who has recently been the subject of withering Republican attacks, who dominated the news Tuesday morning and could become a topic of debate overnight.
Hunter Biden said it was a "bad decision" to serve on the board of a Ukrainian gas company because it has become a political responsibility for his father.
"I did nothing wrong," he said in an interview with ABC News recorded over the weekend at his home in Los Angeles. “However, was it a bad choice to be in the middle of something that is - is it a swamp, in many ways? Yes".
“Did I do something wrong? Not in any way. No way, ”he said.
LOOK: Hunter Biden will resign from the board of the Chinese company and stop working for foreign firms if his father is elected
Biden's professional participation with companies in Ukraine and China has led President Donald Trump and his allies to point him out of alleged corruption. There is no evidence of irregularities by Joe or Hunter Biden.
Hunter Biden announced on Sunday that he will resign at the end of the month on his board of directors of the management company of a private equity fund backed by Chinese state entities, according to a statement published by his lawyer. And the former vice president announced the same day that "no one in my family or associate will involve me in any operation abroad."
"Point. End of the story, ”Biden told reporters.
Some Democrats have stepped forward to defend Biden during what has become a round trip with Trump.
Bernie Sanders returns to the race
Sanders says that everything has been as usual before the debate.
"We are doing what I am sure all the other applicants are doing," he told CNN on Sunday, "and trying to anticipate the questions that will be asked, dealing with complicated answers in 75 seconds or 45 seconds, or whatever." .
But when he goes on stage at the University of Otterbein, the 78-year-old man will have the extra weight of trying to convince voters that, two weeks after his heart attack in Las Vegas, he is physically prepared for what awaits him.
This will be the first major exit from Sanders since two stents were inserted to clear a clogged artery. He has spent his time outside the campaign following up with a cardiologist, conducting television and telephone interviews and, according to his social media accounts, practicing a lot of batting in his backyard in Burlington, Vermont.
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However, on Tuesday night he will face live releases for the first time in weeks and voters will be eager to see if he can spend three hours on stage, under the lights, without hesitation.
The political scope will be the same
Sanders made his brightest line contrast with his progressive rival Elizabeth Warren last weekend, and noted in an interview with ABC News: “Elizabeth, I think, as you know, has said that she is a full-time capitalist. I am not".
That may not seem like much, but Sanders has faithfully maintained his share of a non-aggression pact with Warren, even when she climbed the polls and overcame it by far. It remains to be seen if he can endure while the race warms up.
Accusation, Ukraine, Syria
Tuesday's debate takes place as powerful national and international news continues to develop.
Trump is under threat of impeachment, and Trump's decision to withdraw troops from northern Syria has plunged the already chaotic region into more uncertainty, allowing Turkey to attack the allied Kurdish US forces. UU. and threatening to push back the advances that the United States has made to combat ISIS
All this has dominated the news in recent weeks, largely eliminating the Democratic nomination fight of the incumbents and consuming the focus of the electorate.
Applicants are coming to the debate prepared to answer questions on all these issues. But there is a widespread agreement among Democrats on the issue, so that the applicant who is able to present the clearest case against Trump on each issue is likely to leave the debate with some level of confidence.
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Buttigieg vs. Beto vs. Booker
An ongoing fight between South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, O'Rourke and New Jersey Senator Cory Booker intensified this week.
The three Democrats have publicly discussed gun control laws for weeks, with Buttigieg and O'Rourke continuing their fight on the issue of ending the tax-exempt status of a religious organization that discriminates against LGBTQ Americans.
The tension began earlier this month with the three disagreeing on how far Democrats should go in gun laws. O'Rourke and Booker have pushed for the mandatory repurchase of assault rifles, while Buttigieg has described the approach of that policy as somewhat distracting and, instead, suggested that it is smarter to support mandatory background checks, allowing states adopt "red flag" laws that allow families or the police to ask a judge to take away weapons from a potentially dangerous person and prohibits the sale of additional assault rifles.
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"I was really offended by those comments," O'Rourke said of Buttigieg's comment after a gun control policy forum in Las Vegas on Wednesday. "And I think he represents a type of policy that focuses on survey tests and the conduct of focus groups and triangulating and listening to consultants, before reaching a position."
Buttigieg has not recanted.
"I get it. He needs to fight to stay relevant, ”Buttigieg told Snapchat when asked about O'Rourke's comments.
Buttigieg also called the mandatory repurchases "confiscations" in his interview, which led Booker to accuse the Democrats of "doing the NRA's work for them."
Booker has also commented on how O'Rourke's embrace of mandatory repurchases came after the shooting in El Paso, Texas, his hometown. Booker had already been in favor of the plan when O'Rourke supported him.
"He saw the horrors in his community," Booker said of O'Rourke's reversal on the subject. “Will we have to wait until the hell lottery reaches their community? No, we are a better country. ”
O'Rourke and Buttigieg's fight continued on the issue of protection for the LGBTQ community in the United States. After O'Rourke argued that religious institutions should lose their tax exemption status if they discriminated against LGBTQ Americans, Buttigieg told CNN that "he wasn't sure" if O'Rourke "fully understood the implications of what I was saying".
“If we want to talk about the anti-discrimination law for a school or organization, absolutely. They should not be able to discriminate, ”he told CNN. "But after the tax exemption of churches, Islamic centers or other religious facilities in this country, I think that will only deepen the divisions we are already experiencing."
The fight on multiple fronts leading to the debate makes it likely that the tension will spread on Tuesday.
To stand out
The setting for Tuesday night's debate will be the biggest in modern history, putting the challengers on how to stand out when they are flanked by eleven other applicants.
Businessman Andrew Yang, an aspirant who has garnered devout followers, has begun each debate with a unique moment. Yang opened the September debate by announcing that he was offering his Freedom Dividend badge, a $ 1,000 check a year, to ten people.
And Senator Kamala Harris has entered into each debate with the clear objective of taking a moment. During the June debate, he confronted Biden about his career and bus history. That moment gave Harris a significant boost, taking her to second place in some national polls. But that moment turned out to be a quick explosion and Harris couldn't keep up the momentum.
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But Tuesday's debate could be the last for four Democratic contenders.
Klobuchar, O'Rourke, Castro and Gabbard face the reality that their limited support may not be enough to qualify for the November Democratic debate, so the Ohio contest may be the last.
The National Democratic Committee guidelines state that applicants must have at least 3% in four national or early state surveys or at least 5% in two early state surveys and 165,000 unique donors to qualify for the next debate. Applicants can use DNC approved surveys published between September 13 and November 13 to make the cut.
While eight applicants on Tuesday's stage say they have already qualified for the next debate, the four currently abroad are not close to qualifying. All four have the necessary number of donors, however, each does not have any or only one of the surveys needed to qualify.
That could create a level of despair in the four aspirants, all who would like a viral moment to push them into the next debate.
Gabbard, who aggressively pursued Harris in a debate earlier this year, has already mocked that this could be his strategy: the congresswoman released a video earlier this month attacking the DNC and threatening to boycott Tuesday's debate.
However, on Monday he stepped back, simply tweeting: "I will attend the debate."
Steyer makes his debut
Tom Steyer is new here.
The billionaire businessman and main Democratic donor, who initially ran for president, announced a presidential campaign in July.
He has spent an astounding 30 million on digital and television ads in the first three months of his campaign, money that helped him meet the donor and voting threshold set for Tuesday's debate.
And Steyer, who has focused his campaign on fixing a broken electoral and government system, is not going anywhere: the entrepreneur's campaign also claims to have exceeded the thresholds for the November debate.
Steyer is usually on cable television and headed a forum at CNN earlier this month. But being on a stage of debate with some of the most important names of the Democratic Party around it is a different environment and one that the donor has not yet experienced.
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Steyer has one advantage, however: much of his political spending has focused on Need to Impeach, an organization that aimed to encourage voters to support the overthrow of the Republican president. That effort is now underway in the House, a victory for Steyer.
Eric Bradner and Arlette Saenz of CNN contributed to this report.
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