Democrats stop faking it — and have a serious debate

Democrats stop faking it — and have a serious debate-politico: There was something different going on with 12 Democrats on the debate stage in Ohio on Tuesday night. It was a serious conversation about how to bring change to the party and the country, waged by people making serious claims about what they would do if elected president of the United States.

‘Advantage Warren’ as Dems ready for pivotal

‘Advantage Warren’ as Dems ready for pivotal debate-politico: Bernie Sanders is recovering from his heart attack. Joe Biden is under siege, and laying into Donald Trump. And the entire Democratic presidential field has become consumed with the House’s impeachment inquiry into the Republican president. With so many candidates responding to circumstances beyond their control, and the threat of a destabilizing moment running high on a stage that’s expanding to 12 candidates from 10, it’s raising the specter of a debate Tuesday that finally breaks the Democratic primary logjam.

Warren enters crucial debate with big momentum

Warren enters crucial debate with big momentum-thehill: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is the candidate with the most momentum as the Democratic presidential field heads into a critical debate on Tuesday. Warren has surged in front of former Vice President Joe Biden in recent polls in Iowa and New Hampshire and in some national polls. She also is seeing some encouraging numbers within the polls. Surveys show she has started to appeal to moderate voters and black voters, cultivating a coalition across the party and robbing the Biden campaign of one of its popular talking points.

House Appropriations chairwoman Nita Lowey to retire

House Appropriations chairwoman Nita Lowey to retire-thehill: House Appropriations Chairwoman Nita Lowey (D-NY) on Thursday announced she will retire at the end of this Congress and not seek reelection in 2020. The 82-year-old New York Democrat was first elected to Congress in 1988 and rose to become the most senior member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, and the first woman to hold the post. Before becoming a lawmaker, Lowey served as Assistant Secretary of State for the State of New York.

Why Biden declared war on Trump — and poked at Warren

Why Biden declared war on Trump — and poked at Warren-politico: After calling for Donald Trump’s impeachment for the first time, Joe Biden experienced something here he rarely sees on the campaign trail: a sustained standing ovation. His Rudy Giuliani joke had the crowd roaring, as did his digs on Trump’s tax secrecy. It was just the kind of crowd energy that the Biden campaign had hoped to tap as it abruptly shifted gears on Wednesday, revealing a new intensity and an amped up response to the president’s relentless attacks.

Sanders and Warren transform how presidential campaigns are paid for

Sanders and Warren transform how presidential campaigns are paid for-politico: The latest batch of fundraising reports released this week confirmed a new reality of presidential politics: the traditional, big-dollar model of funding a presidential campaign is going the way of landlines and the VCR. With Elizabeth Warren’s announcement Friday that she had raised nearly $25 million in the last three months, slightly less than Bernie Sanders reported Tuesday, two candidates who didn’t hold traditional donor events became the top two fundraisers in Democratic primary.

Biden faces dual challenges from Trump, Warren

Biden faces dual challenges from Trump, Warren-thehill: Joe Biden is at a crossroads in his quest for the Democratic presidential nomination, as President Trump fights an impeachment inquiry by unloading on the former vice president and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) overtakes him in some polls.