Friend --

Tonight is the third round of Democratic Party presidential debates, and we're down to just 10 candidates! Don't celebrate too much, this only means we have to endure one night of 10 people talking over each other instead of two, but we're getting there. Anyway, AAI has your back as we always do, so here is everything you need in order to watch and engage with the debate tonight.

Where and when can I watch?

The debate will be broadcast live from Texas Southern University in Houston, TX tonight, Thursday, September 12,  at 8 p.m. EDT. The event will be co-hosted by ABC and Univision, and is expected to last about three hours.

Which candidates will be featured?

Here are the candidates who made the cut for the debate stage tonight – we included their Twitter handles to make it easier for you to engage with them during the debate. You can also find their campaign Facebook pages and more on our candidate tracker. 

Who’s moderating, and what is the format?

This debate will have four moderators (listed below). In addition to directing questions during the debate, they will keep you informed of any news before and after the debate.

What are the rules of the debate? 

The format is slightly different this time: candidates will make opening statements, but ABC says there will not be closing remarks. They will have a little more time to answer questions than in the earlier debates — one minute and 15 seconds for direct responses to questions, and 45 seconds for rebuttals. 

What’s being discussed at this debate? 

This is the first time that all the front-runners will be on the same stage, so expect there to be more attempts to define differences in their positions. With Congress back in session, there is a lot of energy around issues like gun violence and white nationalism, in addition to other top-line campaign issues like immigration, health care, and the economy.

But will other priority issues for our community come up? We're not sure, but we have a way to help you keep track: BINGO!

CLICK HERE or on the image (right) to download 5 unique #DemDebate Key Issues BINGO cards! We've preloaded the cards with a few issues of concern to the community, and left a free space for you to fill in with other issues that are important to you as well. 

Want to know where the candidates stand on some of the issues of primary concern to us? Visit our candidate profiles here, which include all the candidates from all the debates, not just tonight's.

How should I engage on social media?

It's mostly the stuff we've told you already, plus the fourth bullet point (pay attention):

• Use the relevant #hashtags: There will be countless hashtags flying around, and the official hashtag to be used by ABC is #DemDebate. To make sure we find & interact with Arab Americans engaging on social media, please use #YallaVote. We also encourage you to use issue-specific hashtags like #RefugeesWelcome for the border crisis, #PalestineIs for Israel/Palestine-related discussions, #NoMuslimBanEver for Trump’s Muslim ban, #NoWarWithIran for (you guessed it) war with Iran, #2020Census for the census, and #FairMaps for anti-gerrymandering efforts.

• Amplify the Issues: When candidates say the right thing on policy issues that concern you, amplify them. When they say the wrong thing, take a moment to fact-check (and tag) them. Just make sure you’re not a spectator, but a participant in the national conversation about the future of our country. Tweeting and engaging on social media during the debates is a great way to highlight the issues that matter to you when they are relevant to the conversation.

• Default to positive engagement: With these debates, it’s almost guaranteed that someone will say something ill-informed, or just all around terrible. Even in these instances, it’s still best to constructively criticize the candidates or moderators rather than bash them, educating your social media audience in the process about the issue they got wrong. The goal is, first and foremost, to improve the discourse on our issues.

• BINGO: Did the issues on your Bingo Card come up? Were they noticeably absent? We're curious, so feel free to snap a pic of your card & tweet it using #YallaVote so we see it.

Let's make sure the candidates know: we are watching and preparing to #YallaVote!

Arab American Institute
http://www.aaiusa.org/