Analysis: Dems strain for civility, contrasts burst through

WASHINGTON (AP) — Electability questions persist. Anxieties about gender and sexism are resurgent. And three leading candidates are about to get yanked off the campaign trail for President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial.

Those deep uncertainties shadowed Tuesday’s Democratic debate, the last national stage for candidates running out of time to generate momentum ahead of the Feb. 3 Iowa caucuses. Months of campaigning and millions of dollars in advertising have left Democrats with a crowded top tier, and it’s unclear if the debate helped any of the candidates break out of that pack.

The six Democrats on stage — the smallest debate field yet — strained to keep the two-hour face-off civil and substantive. They drew policy contrasts with each other on national security, health care and trade, but repeatedly shifted the focus back to their common opponent: Trump.

“While differences are usually amplified in the days before an election, with Trump looming over the candidates' shoulders, this primary campaign seems to be heading in the opposite direction,” said Ben LaBolt, a former White House and campaign official for Barack Obama. “Four candidates entered the debate with a fighting chance to win Iowa tonight, and four candidates left still very much in the hunt.”

Those four candidates — former Vice President Joe Biden, Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg — are locked in a tight race for the top spots in Iowa and New Hampshire, which follows next on the primary calendar. Sen. Amy Klobuchar and businessman Tom Steyer also appeared in Tuesday’s contest.

The last four winners of the Iowa Democratic caucus have gone on to secure their party’s nomination. Yet that winner often emerges late, in the phase that Democrats are now entering —...