CECILIA VEGA: The impeachment of President Trump
is sure to be a main topic in tonight's final
Democratic debate of the year.
ABC's Linsey Davis is there in Los Angeles where
the candidates will face off in just
a matter of hours from now.
But Linsey, the real headline going into this debate
is not gone--
who is not going to be on that stage tonight.
LINSEY DAVIS: Exactly right.
And good morning to you, Cecilia.
One big difference for this, the sixth Democratic debate,
is that you're going to have fewer candidates on the stage,
only seven have made the cut.
Among the front-runners, you have the usual suspects,
former Vice President Joe Biden, senators
Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Mayor Pete Buttigieg.
But one big headline, just months ago, the Democratic
Party had one of the most diverse fields of candidates
running for president, but now Andrew Yang
is the only minority candidate to hit
the DNC's threshold to qualify for tonight's debate.
What to watch for?
Is Buttigieg able to connect with nonwhite voters?
That's something that he has struggled to do in the past.
Impeachment will likely overshadow the night.
Now, that's not something that the candidates disagree on,
but they'd certainly rather focus on other issues.
And with fewer people on stage, Senator Amy Klobuchar, Andrew
Yang, and billionaire Tom Steyer,
they may have the opportunity to stand up.
Of course, now there is more at stake
with the first primary voting less than two weeks away.
And while you-- two months away, sorry about that--
and of course, while you have only seven candidates
on the stage, 15 Democrats are still running for president,
among them former mayor Michael Bloomberg,
who looms large, Cecilia.
CECILIA VEGA: Because the Iowa caucus
is right around the corner.
OK, Linsey.
Thank you.