Friend --

Tonight is the fourth round of Democratic Party presidential debates!

Last month, the debates finally dwindled down to 10 candidates, and this month, higher DNC qualification standards mean we're... back up to 12 candidates on stage?

We know that debates aren't the only thing that make democracy go round (thank goodness!), but what we have below is practically everything you need in order to watch and engage with the debate tonight, and then head to our Advocacy Portal to brush up on the other strategies and tools you can be using to hold candidates to account on the issues that matter most to you. 

Where and when can I watch?

The debate will be broadcast live from Otterbein University in Westerville, OH tonight, Tuesday, October 15,  at 8 p.m. EDT. The event will be co-hosted by The New York Times and CNN, and is expected to last about three hours.

Which candidates made the debate stage?

Two candidates who were not featured in the September debate will be back on stage this evening. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard returns to the stage after not making the September qualifications and threatening non-participation because of alleged media bias. Tom Steyer, a billionaire who didn't announce his candidacy until August, is making his first televised presidential debate appearance this evening.

Here are the candidates who made the cut for 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?

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

Where is who standing? 

Where the candidates stand on stage has been determined by polling averages, so front-runners Biden and Warren will be center stage. The overall order from right to left is: Gabbard, Steyer, Booker, Harris, Sanders, Biden, Warren, Buttigieg, Yang, O'Rourke, Klobuchar and Castro.

What’s being discussed at this debate? 

The last debate was the first time that all the front-runners were on the same stage, so expect there to be more attempts to define differences in their positions. 

While the candidates have spent a lot of time on important issues like healthcare, very few of the core issues AAI works on have been addressed in a substantive way. But even if priority issues for our community don't all come up tonight (some better!), you can still find out where the candidates stand.

Visit our candidate profiles here, which include everyone still running:

Tracking the issues on social media?

Use relevant #hashtags: The official hashtag of these debates 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.

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

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