Hi everyone. This is Seema Mehta, a political reporter in Los Angeles. Welcome to our live chat. I just returned home from covering the Nevada caucuses, as well as the last Democratic debate in Las Vegas. So who’s onstage tonight for this debate? Former Vice President Joe Biden; former New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg; former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg; Sens. Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren; and California philanthropist Tom Steyer.
After months of scrapping around the edges, the gloves really came off in last week’s debate, and I expect to see more of the same tonight. Much of the fire was aimed at Michael Bloomberg last week, and he did not handle it well. Tonight, I’ll be looking to see if he learned anything from last week and whether he can improve his performance. I also expect to see a lot of scrutiny of Bernie Sanders after his strong victory in the Nevada caucuses.
I'm looking to see how the candidates talk about the weight of America's history of racism toward African Americans, given that the Civil War also started here and the city still deals with rampant poverty, housing segregation, poor schools, bias in policing and other problems in the local black community that are the legacy of racial oppression.The subject of reparations just might come up tonight. Read my piece from last summer on it, reported from the Charleston area, here.
Don’t watch it ... it will disappoint you.
Missed? You mean deliberately avoided!