Los Angeles Times

Tight polls, impeachment, billionaire wild cards: Uncertainty reigns in the 2020 Democratic race

WASHINGTON - As Democrats' top presidential candidates prepare to meet for the last debate before voters start weighing in, the primary contest remains one of the most unpredictable in decades - a contest not likely to end anytime soon.

In the absence of a commanding front-runner, and with a plethora of well-funded candidates in the top tier, party activists say they have less certainty about the outcome than at any time since 1992, when Bill Clinton ultimately won in a crowded field.

"I can't remember a time when I had this many questions before the first votes," said Rebecca Katz, a Democratic strategist who worked on John Edwards' 2004 presidential campaign. "Things could play out 100 different ways."

The sources of uncertainty are legion: Polls in Iowa and New Hampshire, the first two states to vote, show four candidates bunched closely at the top - former Vice President Joe Biden, former Mayor Pete Buttigieg

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