Nov 14, 2015 5 min read

Wake Up To Politics - November 14, 2015 - Live from Des Moines

To read today's edition of Wake Up To Politics in a PDF format, click here. Continue reading to find the text of the Wake Up in the body of the email!

Saturday, November 14, 2015
37 Days until Election Day 2016
360 Days until the Iowa Caucuses
79 Days until Election Day 2015It's Saturday, November 14, 2015, I'm Gabe Fleisher for Wake Up To Politics, and reporting from WUTP world HQ in my bedroom - Good morning: THIS IS YOUR WAKE UP CALL!!!
To send me questions, comments, tips, new subscribers, and more: email me at wakeuptopolitics@gmail.com. To learn more about WUTP and subscribe, visit the site: wakeuptopolitics.com, or like me on Twitter and Facebook. More ways to engage with WUTP at the bottom. Special Pre-Debate Primer
#WUTPDebate: Live from Des Moines

DES MOINES – Good afternoon from the press filing center at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, where Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Martin O’Malley will take the stage in just a few hours for the second Democratic presidential debate of the 2016 cycle.
Armed with press credentials from the Democratic National Committee, I am attending tonight’s debate as a member of the media. I will watch Clinton, Sanders, and O’Malley face off with my fellow journalists, and then have the opportunity to enter the Spin Room and possibly ask questions of the candidates and their surrogates myself.
All night, I will be live-tweeting the best lines from the candidates, as well as sharing behind-the-scenes photos and stories of my Debate Night adventures. Follow along at twitter.com/WakeUp2Politics and join in the conversation with #WUTPDebate! But first, a Pre-Debate Primer on what will go down in Des Moines tonight:
WHEN is the debate? All the action begins at 8pm Central Time tonight. With just three candidates on stage, the two-hour debate will allow for plenty of time for each contender to speak. There will be 60-second answers, 30-second rebuttals, and 60-second closing statements.
HOW can it be viewed? Anyone with network TV, radio, or Internet access can tune in for the big event. This is the first debate to air on nationwide network TV, so no cable subscription is needed to watch on CBS or stream at cbsnews.com/live. In addition, the debate will be available on CBS radio affiliates, and on C-SPAN Radio.
WHERE is the debate? Drake University here in Des Moines will host the event, in its historic Sheslow Audtorium, which seats 775 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Drake was also the venue for presidential primary debates in the 2008 and 2012 cycles.
WHO will be on stage? The candidates: former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton – the frontrunner, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders – the rising underdog, and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley – the unknown variable.
The principal moderator tonight will be CBS News political director John Dickerson, the host of the network’s Sunday morning public affairs show, “Face the Nation”. CBS is co-sponsoring the debate with KCCI-TV, their local affiliate, which is sending anchor Kevin Cooney to participate, and the Des Moines Register, which will be represented by political columnist Kathie Obradovich. Cooney, Obradovich, and CBS News congressional correspondent Nancy Cordes will sit alongside Dickerson and assist in questioning the three candidates.
Additional questions will come from Twitter, the social media platform CBS is partnering with for tonight’s debate, where millions of questions were submitted with #DemDebate.
WHAT is at stake? With less than 80 days until the Iowa caucuses, expect a much fiercer debate tonight than the first time Democrats met on October 13. The days of Bernie Sanders defending Hillary Clinton (“sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails”) are no more.
Instead, Sanders is expected to attack Clinton and showcase their policy differences on issues like the Trans-Pacific trade deal, income inequality, the Keystone XL pipeline, climate change, college affordability, campaign finance.
O’Malley too will take the offensive tonight, attacking Clinton from the left and playing up his credentials as a “life-long Democrat,” in contrast with Bernie Sanders.
However, in light of Friday’s terrorist attacks in Paris, the focus of the debate will shift from its planned emphasis, the economy (more of Sanders’ comfort zone) to national security (which plays better for Clinton).
With a CBS/New York Times poll released last week showing the Democratic race as Clinton 52%-Sanders 33%-O’Malley 5%, this will be a key moment for Clinton to protect her frontrunner status, for Sanders to go on the offensive as he attempts to take that mantle, and for O’Malley to have a breakout moment.
#WUTPDebate And I will be here at Drake University through it all, watching closely along with hundreds of other credentialed reporters. Follow my updates on the debate and other behind-the-scenes adventures at @WakeUp2Politics and tell me what you think of the debate as its happening with #WUTPDebate.
And…don’t forget to tune onto MSNBC at around 10:45pm Central Time, where you may catch an interview with your favorite teenage journalist!