Democratic Debate Live: Candidates Face Off in New Hampshire

Biden is more aggressive than at any previous debate.

Mr. Biden has come out more aggressive than at the seven earlier debates. He attacked Mr. Sanders and Mr. Buttigieg in his opening remarks and has kept at it since then.

“Imagine you’re going unite the country, walking into Congress and saying, ‘I got this bill. It’s going provide health care for everybody. I don’t know how much it’s going cost. We’ll figure it out later,’” Mr. Biden said, mocking Mr. Sanders’s signature “Medicare for all” proposal. “Who do you think is going get that passed?”

The former vice president went after Mr. Buttigieg too, saying he lacks sufficient experience winning elections to be trusted in a general election against President Trump and reminding viewers that the former South Bend mayor hasn’t shown much appeal to black and Latino voters.

It all suggests Mr. Biden, who placed fourth in Iowa’s caucuses and is sitting at third place in New Hampshire polls, is at a level of desperation in his campaign. Without taking a bite out of Mr. Buttigieg and Mr. Sanders in tonight’s debate, he realizes that the two New Hampshire polling front-runners may get too far ahead for him to catch up.

Biden goes hard at Sanders on “Medicare for all.”

Mr. Biden took his most direct shot yet at the Sanders “Medicare for all” proposal. He said that while Mr. Sanders touted that he “wrote the damn bill,” he was not willing to say “what the damn thing is going to cost.”

“How much is it going to cost? Who is going to pay for it?” Mr. Biden pressed.

Mr. Biden went on to say it wasn’t possible to pass the Sanders plan.

“I busted my neck getting Obamacare passed,” Mr. Biden added.

Buttigieg and Sanders start to clash.

Mr. Buttigieg said that the Sanders theory of winning the general election won’t work because it will alienate people who don’t agree with his democratic socialist proposals.

“When our opponent is saying if you don’t go all the way to the edge it doesn’t count, politics that say it’s my way or the highway,” Mr. Buttigieg said.

Mr. Stephanopoulos cut in: “Are you talking about Senator Sanders?”

Mr. Buttigieg replied: “Yes.”

Mr. Sanders disagreed that he was as strident as Mr. Buttigieg portrayed him, and pivoted to selling himself as the candidate of the working class.

Mr. Sanders said he could bring people together by “presenting an agenda that works for the working people of this country, not the billionaire class.”

Mr. Sanders added that, “The way you bring people together is by ending the international disgrace of this country being the only major nation on Earth not to guarantee health care to all people as a human right.”

Yang: “It’s great to be back on the debate stage.”

Mr. Yang, who missed the January debate, said the debate over capitalism and socialism was broken and the wrong one.

And he said he was happy to return to the national spotlight.

“I’m so excited I want to give every American $1,000 a month,” he said, pitching his signature proposal for a universal basic income.

Is anyone concerned about a democratic socialist as the nominee? Klobuchar raises her hand.

In response to the moderator’s question, Ms. Klobuchar jumped in to say that she was concerned about the Sanders brand of democratic socialism, pitching herself as the strongest candidate for those concerned about the general election.

“Bernie and I work together all the time, but I think we are not going to be able to out divide the divider in chief, and I think we need someone to head up this ticket that actually brings people with her instead of shutting them out,” Ms. Klobuchar said. “And truthfully, Donald Trump’s worst nightmare is a candidate that will bring people in from the middle.”

Mr. Steyer said the past week has made it clear that Mr. Trump could win re-election and added to Mr. Biden’s critique of Mr. Buttigieg’s candidacy, suggesting that he can’t beat Mr. Trump because he has little support among black and Latino voters.

“Unless you can appeal to the diverse parts of the Democratic Party, including specifically the black community, including specifically Latinos, if you can’t do that, then we can’t beat Donald Trump in November,” Mr. Steyer said.

Biden: “I took the hit in Iowa and I’ll probably take a hit here.”

Mr. Biden opened the debate by dramatically attempting to lower expectations after his fourth place finish in Iowa.

“I took the hit in Iowa and I’ll probably take a hit here,” he predicted of the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday.

“Usually it’s neighboring senators who do well,” he said of Mr. Sanders, noting he had won the state four years ago over Hillary Clinton.

Mr. Sanders refused to punch back at Mr. Biden, pivoting instead to Mr. Trump and promising to build “the largest voter turnout in the history of this country.”

“Donald Trump lies all the time,” Mr. Sanders said. “He’s said terrible things about Joe and me and everybody else up here.”

The candidates have taken the stage.

The seven Democrats are at their podiums, and the moderators have set up the political context of the race, saying that Mr. Sanders and Mr. Buttigieg came out of the Iowa caucuses effectively tied.

Each candidate came out to lengthy applause. Mr. Sanders and Mr. Buttigiegtook the stage to loud applause and quickly shook hands. Others smiled and waved to the audience.

Will Sanders take on Buttigieg?

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Mr. Sanders took a swipe at Mr. Buttigieg by name on Friday morning, seeking to connect the former mayor with wealthy donors ahead of tonight’s debate. At the venerable “Politics & Eggs” forum in Manchester, Mr. Sanders read several newspaper headlines from a piece of paper that associated Mr. Buttigieg with the millionaires and billionaires who have backed his campaign.

“I like Pete Buttigieg, nice guy,” Mr. Sanders said. “But we are in a moment where billionaires control not only our economy but our political life.”

The line of attack could be a prelude to Mr. Sanders’s approach at the debate, given that he and Mr. Buttigieg are virtually tied in the Boston Globe/Suffolk University poll of New Hampshire voters out Friday. They are also essentially tied in the delegate results in the Iowa caucuses.

At the debate, Mr. Sanders will have an opportunity to highlight his strong Iowa coalition, which included an influx of racial minorities and working-class voters brought in through the campaign’s aggressive strategy of focusing on some satellite caucuses. Liberal groups have fired off news release after news release, cheering Mr. Sanders’s Iowa showing as the first step of their electoral movement.

Mr. Sanders will also have a weakened Mr. Biden to target after Mr. Biden’s self-admitted “gut punch” in Iowa. According to Sanders aides, the Vermont senator may target the former vice president, whom his camp regards as more of a long-term rival than Mr. Buttigieg.

And will Buttigieg take hits from all sides?

In the seven previous Democratic debates, Mr. Buttigieg has been by turns the relative unknown, the surprising upstart and the polling leader.

Tonight he’ll show up as the winner. Sort of.

After finishing in a virtual tie in Iowa’s maligned caucuses, Mr. Buttigieg figures to be put on the defensive by his rivals in Manchester.

Since arriving in New Hampshire this week, Mr. Biden has attacked Mr. Buttigieg’s experience and Mr. Steyer has attacked him in a TV ad. Ms. Klobuchar remains aggrieved about his rise and aides to Mr. Sanders regularly mock his high-dollar fund-raising schedule.

And they’re all annoyed that he declared victory in Iowa on Monday night before any caucus results were reported.

No longer can Mr. Buttigieg’s opponents presume he’ll fade away as an upstart candidate. And they all have reason to try to knock him down a few pegs in New Hampshire, where he is competitive in the polls.

The question for Mr. Buttigieg is, how does he respond to attacks during the televised debate? He’s proven to be a skilled counterpuncher in past debates, slicing back at Ms. Warren for her own fund-raising hypocrisy in December and telling Ms. Klobuchar that his military experience trumps her work in Senate committee hearings.

But tonight might be the first time Mr. Buttigieg might face a sustained offensive from multiple rivals at once — how he handles it may influence his fortunes in Tuesday’s primary.

Bloomberg hunts for cool content from “influencers.”

MANCHESTER, N.H. — He’s spent more than $331 million on television, radio and digital ads in roughly two and a half months, an ad campaign of pure inundation. But now Michael R. Bloomberg, the billionaire former New York City mayor, is turning to a more niche audience with a slightly smaller budget: micro-influencers.

The Bloomberg campaign has been offering these lower-tier social media stars $150 to “Show+Tell why Mike is the candidate who can change our country for the better, state why YOU think he’s a great candidate.”

The campaign is not, however, asking these influencers to make posts on their own channel. Instead, the campaign just wants the influencers to send them their homemade content.

The micro-influencer campaign, which was first reported by The Daily Beast, is anchored on a website called Tribe, which describes itself as “the world’s fastest growing self serve marketplace connecting brands and agencies with social media influencers.” Essentially, someone looking for help from influencers can buy their services through Tribe.

The Bloomberg campaign page on Tribe reads similarly to his other campaign literature, talking up his story as a “middle class kid who worked his way through college,” as someone who “can get things done” and as candidate who focuses on his gun control and climate change efforts.

When users click “create submission,” they’re then invited to a “content only” campaign that sells the rights to content for a fixed fee “without needing to publish them to your social networks.”

It was not immediately clear what the Bloomberg campaign plans to do with the content, but Mr. Bloomberg boasts an extensive digital operation. Since Jan. 1, his campaign has spent more than $36 million on digital advertising, including $25 million on Facebook and Instagram, home to many of the influencers.

Can Biden land his punches?

Coming off a disappointing fourth-place finish in the Iowa caucuses, Mr. Biden laced into two top rivals in New Hampshire — Mr. Sanders and Mr. Buttigieg — in his fiercest frontal attack yet in the 2020 race.

Mr. Biden needs to arrest his slide with moderate voters who like Mr. Buttigieg, and with blue-collar voters to whom Mr. Sanders appeals — but how pointed will he be on the debate stage?

Mr. Biden served for decades as a decorous senator from Delaware, and it is rarely his instinct to go for the jugular. He has previewed sharp contrasts with rivals before, only to backpedal under questioning. How tough and effective will he be in his exchanges with Mr. Sanders and Mr. Buttigieg?

The bull’s-eye on Tom Steyer

With his billionaire status providing a large bull’s-eye, Mr. Steyer, who has spent lavishly to build black support in South Carolina, could become a debate target.

One of Mr. Biden’s stalwart supporters in the state, Senator Dick Harpootlian, opened the door this week, lashing out at Mr. Steyer.

“This is what happens when billionaires get involved,” Mr. Harpootlian tweeted. “They just buy things.”

He was referring to Steyer campaign payments of more than $40,000 to Jerry Govan, head of the South Carolina Legislative Black Caucus.

Hinting at a quid pro quo, Mr. Harpootlian alleged that Mr. Govan, who has endorsed Mr. Steyer, had switched his allegiance from Mr. Biden to the California hedge fund billionaire. Campaign records also show that Harold Mitchell, a former South Carolina state representative, is on the Steyer campaign payroll, earning $3,751 in December. In January, Mr. Mitchell, who is black, was featured in an ad endorsing Mr. Steyer. The Steyer campaign said Friday that Mr. Mitchell has been hired as a senior adviser for environmental justice.

“Harold Mitchell is an incredible environmental leader who shines a bright light on the pollution devastating far too many communities of color in South Carolina,” the Steyer campaign said in a statement issued by a spokesman, Benjamin Gerdes, who added that Mr. Steyer is proud of the support he has received from Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Govan, who serves as a senior adviser to the campaign.

Mr. Steyer had a poor showing in the Iowa primary but polls suggest he has gained popularity in South Carolina, where he has dominated television, radio and social media advertising. His campaign also went on the offensive this week in New Hampshire, criticizing his opponents in a new ad that suggests that Mr. Biden is an insider and that Mr. Buttigieg lacks experience.

Will Warren go on the offensive?

Ms. Warren took incoming fire from the party’s liberal and moderate wings for months, and she finished Iowa in a comfortable third place, behind Mr. Sanders and Mr. Buttigieg. Even though her situation is not as dire as that of Mr. Biden’s, who finished a distant fourth, Ms. Warren needs to recapture the momentum that made her one of the leading candidates in the summer and early fall.

In previous debates, Ms. Warren has largely stuck to her affirmative message — except for one big diversion, when she attacked Mr. Buttigieg for raising money with big donors. Now, as Mr. Buttigieg eats at her base and Mr. Sanders occupies the party’s left flank, Ms. Warren’s supporters are urging her to attack her rivals more directly.

The campaign has also largely stayed away from Mr. Biden — could she deliver a blow on the struggling front-runner that shakes up the race?

The New Hampshire race looks a lot like Iowa.

A new NBC News/Marist poll of New Hampshire voters shows a close race between Mr. Sanders and Mr. Buttigieg. The poll tracks fairly closely with the results of the Iowa caucuses. It shows Mr. Sanders at 25 percent, Mr. Buttigieg at 21 percent, Ms. Warren at 14 percent, Mr. Biden at 13 percent, and Ms. Klobuchar at 8 percent.

Behind the top five were Mr. Steyer and Mr. Yang at 4 percent, Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii at 3 percent, and Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado and former Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts at 1 percent.

Biden reorganizes his staff after Iowa.

Mr. Biden is shaking up his staff after a sobering fourth-place finish in Iowa. According to senior campaign officials, Anita Dunn, one of Mr. Biden’s top advisers, will effectively take control of the campaign from its current manager, Greg Schultz.

It is not unusual for presidential candidates to make leadership changes after disappointing performances in Iowa: Hillary Clinton did it in 2008, for instance. But Mr. Biden’s move underscores just how bad the caucus results were for him.

Iowa was never expected to be Mr. Biden’s best state, because some of his strongest support comes from black voters, and Iowa is overwhelmingly white. He has long viewed South Carolina, where black voters are the most powerful Democratic voting bloc, as a “firewall” for his campaign. But South Carolina doesn’t vote until Feb. 29, and weak performances in New Hampshire or Nevada could prevent him from making it that far.

An internal campaign email played down the change, saying that Mr. Biden had asked Ms. Dunn “to play an expanded role in the headquarters” and that Ms. Dunn would work on “campaign strategy and overall coordination on budget and personnel as we build a bigger campaign for the next phase.” But two campaign officials told The Times that she would actually have final authority over decisions.

You can read more here.

Will anyone shake up their polling trajectories?

Mr. Sanders is up double digits over Mr. Biden. Or he and Mr. Biden are effectively tied. Or something in between is afoot.

Taken together, the publicly available New Hampshire surveys — a scarce commodity for much of the race — paint a picture of a fluid and uncertain campaign in the state. But several trends are evident.

Mr. Sanders, of neighboring Vermont, has consistently held a lead, though the margins have varied. In recent polls there have been signs of growing traction for Mr. Buttigieg. Ms. Warren has struggled in 2020 New Hampshire polls, and with the occasional exception in recent weeks, Mr. Biden has too.

At Friday night’s debate, can Mr. Buttigieg and Mr. Sanders build on Iowa momentum to cement their strength in New Hampshire? Can Ms. Warren and Mr. Biden reset the narrative after their disappointing showings in Iowa — and in recent New Hampshire polling? Will anyone else jump decisively into the top polling tier in the homestretch?

Katie Glueck, Astead W. Herndon, Stephanie Saul, Maggie Astor and Nick Corasaniti contributed reporting.