Democrats Debate As Buttigieg Rises, Impeachment Engrosses Voters

Joe Biden and other leading 2020 White House contenders will square off at Wednesday's Democratic presidential debate seeking to blunt the surge of a rising-star candidate: Pete Buttigieg

Washington, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Nov, 2019 ) :Joe Biden and other leading 2020 White House contenders will square off at Wednesday's Democratic presidential debate seeking to blunt the surge of a rising-star candidate: Pete Buttigieg.

Former vice president Biden, Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senator Bernie Sanders -- all in their seventies -- lead in national polling for the Democratic nomination.

But Buttigieg, a millennial military veteran and mayor from Indiana, has cracked into the top tier with a steady rise in the past month, particularly in early-voting states like Iowa where he has seized the momentum.

The 37-year-old politically skilled technocrat is buoyed by an unruffled campaign demeanor and pragmatic reform proposals that have gained traction in Iowa and New Hampshire, the two states that vote first in the nomination race.

But even as the 10 qualifying candidates prepare to rumble in the fifth nationally televised Democratic debate, the showdown in Atlanta threatens to be overshadowed by a critical week of impeachment hearings into President Donald Trump's dealings with Ukraine.

The first of nine current or former officials began testifying publicly this week before House investigators who grilled them on what they know about Trump's alleged coercion efforts.

Democrats accuse Trump of conditioning military aid and a White House meeting on Kiev conducting investigations of Biden and his son Hunter, who worked with a Ukrainian energy company while his father was vice president.

Testifying publicly Wednesday just hours before the debate will be Gordon Sondland, Trump's ambassador to the European Union, whose knowledge about the president's pressure campaign puts him at the center of the inquiry.