The Democratic Debate Lineups Are Set. Here's What to Expect (NYT)

[Shrek]

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/14/us/politics/democratic-debates-2020.html

The selection of the candidate lineups on Friday unfolded like a scene from “The Apprentice,” the former NBC reality show hosted by the man who is now the president. Representatives from the campaigns gathered into an 11th floor conference room at the network’s Rockefeller Center headquarters. Arrayed on a table were two boxes — wrapped in white paper with gold dots on it — labeled “2% and above” and “below 2%” to correspond to the candidates’ polling status.

Each of the candidates’ names were written on pieces of paper, folded in half, and placed in the appropriate box. The names were drawn from the boxes one by one and affixed onto one of two easels with tape.

Many of the campaigns have spent weeks grumbling about the difficulty of preparing for a large, multiparty debate, particularly one where the matchups are revealed eleven days before the actual event. Most expect their candidate to get less than 10 minutes of speaking time to make their case and ideally create the kind of viral moment that can boost donations and polling numbers.

Numerous candidates have already begun studying up on policy and rehearsing potential zingers. Those efforts will intensify this weekend, now that the candidates have a sense of their placement on the stage.

[Baclava]

1. "Most expect their candidate to get less than 10 minutes of speaking time"

That's not much

"rehearsing zingers"

yeah, I expected that