Bernie Sanders, here with Bret Baier at a Fox News town hall in Detroit, faces Hillary Clinton in a debate on Univision in the wake of his upset victory in Michigan. (Getty)
With a shocking Michigan win from Bernie Sanders injecting new competitiveness into the Democratic race for President, tonight’s CNN/Univision debate comes at a critical juncture. Sanders, who overcame a 21-point Michigan deficit to win the biggest upset in modern history, is out to prove that rumors of his imminent demise were greatly exaggerated elsewhere, too, while Hillary Clinton will try to stem the Sanders momentum while her delegate lead is still comfortable.
The debate will be broadcast by Univision, with a simulcast by CNN, starting at 9 p.m. Eastern. Karen Tumulty of The Washington Post will join Maria Elena Salinas and Jorge Ramos of Univision as moderators.
Here’s what you need to know:
DATE: March 9, 2016
TIME: 9 p.m. Eastern
CHANNEL: Univision/CNN
MODERATORS: Karen Tumulty, Maria Elena Salinas and Jorge Ramos
LOCATION: Miami Dade College, Miami, Florida
DEBATE PREVIEW: It’s a crucial point in the race for both candidates, as Hillary Clinton sets out to re-establish her frontrunner’s momentum and Sanders looks to prove that he can take the fight to the convention. A few topics expected to be broached:
- State of the Race: With the Michigan win, Sanders has made pledged delegates a more or less even race. The controversial unpledged delegates, though, still give Hillary a wide lead. Sanders will likely face questions about what he’d say to woo superdelegates. Likewise, both candidates should expect questions about how they’d resolve the remote but real possibility of a brokered convention.
- Black Lives Matter: The state played host to two of the movement’s flashpoint events: the 2012 shooting of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman and the murder of Jordan Davis by Michael Dunn later that year. Florida’s key black demographic was considered a Hillary lock before Sanders took 30% of the same demographic in his Michigan win, and the subject has already been fertile ground for questions.
- FBI Investigation: Despite the famed reluctance from Sanders on the email subject, the issue is unlikely to go away, and got new life with this week’s grant of immunity to Bryan Pagliano. Neither candidate may want to talk about it, but it’s coming up.
