Right now, in an attempt to change their own narratives, 10 of the Democratic party's remaining presidential candidates are taking the stage — in the long shadow of President Donald J. Trump's impeachment hearings. Here's how to watch the Democratic debate, and where you can live stream it online along with the rest of us, even if you've cut the cord.
Aside from the elephant in the room, who will likely be tweeting through the debate, the candidates will likely continue a few major topics of discourse. Former vice president Joe Biden's candidacy might need the biggest jump-start as newly announced candidates Deval Patrick (former governor, Massachusetts) and Mike Bloomberg (former mayor, New York) seemed to appear out of nowhere once pundits started talking about Biden as if his candidacy was in the past tense.
The November debate begins now — 9 p.m. Eastern | 6 p.m. Pacific..
Audiences in the U.K. need to stay up until 2 a.m. GMT, which sounds pretty rough if you ask me.
Those on the more mainstream/center will chastise senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) for being unelectable, while Warren and senator Bernie Sanders (D-Vermont) will likely combat that with the argument that their opponents are not fighting for enough, or for the public.
The new punching bag, however, will likely be Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana. After Buttigieg's sharp rises in polling in New Hampshire and Iowa, the other candidates will likely attempt to torpedo his momentum. Warren or Sanders may be the one to go for a knockout blow, as their core audiences on the left wing of the party see Mayor Pete as too centrist.
Speaking of the various wings of the party, the quartet of Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) and senators Cory Booker (D-New Jersey), Kamala Harris (D-California) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) find themselves in the center of the pack both in polling and policy. Harris has had the best moments of this group so far, but they all keep gravitating away from the lead.
Financier Tom Steyer and tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang still need to find a way to break out of the lower rungs, after the former has consistently failed to make a mark and the latter's gambit to give away money to the public didn't get him much attention.
Tonight's Democratic debate lineup
Here's the roster for tonight, in alphabetical order. You might notice that we've lost a couple of names since the last round. Beto O'Rourke dropped out of the election on Nov. 1, and Julian Castro (housing secretary under Barack Obama) failed to meet the polling threshold.
- Joe Biden (former vice president)
- Cory Booker (NJ senator)
- Pete Buttigieg (South Bend, IN mayor)
- Tulsi Gabbard (HI representative in congress)
- Kamala Harris (CA senator)
- Amy Klobuchar (MN senator)
- Bernie Sanders (VT senator)
- Tom Steyer (billionaire)
- Elizabeth Warren (MA senator)
- Andrew Yang (tech entrepreneur)
How can I watch the Democratic debates online?
The November debate airs tonight on MSNBC, which is co-hosting with The Washington Post.
MSNBC is on Hulu With Live TV, YouTube TV and AT&T TV Now (fka DirecTV Now).
Where can I live stream tonight's Democratic debate?
Cord-cutters can watch along live on MSNBC.com and washingtonpost.com. The NBC News and Washington Post mobile apps will also carry the event.
If you just need the audio, it'll be on SiriusXM Channel 118 and TuneIn.
How do I use a VPN to watch the Democratic debate online?
If you're on vacation, and run into any location-blackout issues while trying to stream the event online, you might need a VPN. A virtual private network, or VPN, can help you connect to your desired streaming service through a U.S. server and watch the draft as if you were at home.
We've evaluated many VPN services, and our top pick is ExpressVPN. It meets the VPN needs of the vast majority of users, offering outstanding compatibility with most devices and impressive connection speeds. It's also affordable at $12.95 per month. (Signing up for longer periods of six months or a year reduces the cost even more.)
Here are our favorite VPN options:
