The Field

Today, millions of voters across six states will cast their ballots for the two viable Democratic candidates left: former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Senator Bernie Sanders. What began as a contest with historic diversity of race, gender and sexual orientation has come down to two heterosexual white men over 70.

Astead W. Herndon, who covered Senator Senator Elizabeth Warren for The New York Times, asks: How did we get here? With Austin Mitchell and Jessica Cheung, producers for “The Daily,” Mr. Herndon traveled to Massachusetts to find out. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

Background reading:

• Ms. Warren’s position as one of the top-polling candidates early in the race made her a target for attack. Some say the personal criticism she weathered, especially from Mr. Biden, was sexist.
• She began her campaign with an avalanche of progressive policy proposals, but dropped out after failing to attract a broader political coalition in a Democratic Party increasingly, if not singularly, focused on defeating President Trump.

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Former vice president Joseph R. Biden Jr. was once a clear front-runner in the race for the Democratic nomination. Now, he is fighting back from a string of losses and staking his candidacy on his ability to win tomorrow’s South Carolina primary, the first in a state with a large black population. But will he win, and if the margin isn’t as decisive as he hopes, can he stay in the race? Guest: Astead W. Herndon, who covers national politics for The New York Times traveled to South Carolina with Clare Toeniskoetter and Annie Brown, producers on “The Daily.” For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

Background reading:

• A new poll showed Mr. Biden with a wide lead in South Carolina, with Senator Bernie Sanders and hedge fund billionaire Tom Steyer trailing behind.
• Mr. Biden lashed out after reports that Mr, Sanders considered mounting a primary challenge to President Barack Obama in 2012, saying it was “one of the reasons I resent Bernie.”
• Churches have long played the primary role in mobilizing black support in South Carolina. So how are candidates faring among congregations?

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Note: This episode contains strong language.

Senator Bernie Sanders is a staunchly pro-union candidate. But he has found himself mired in an escalating battle over health care with the largest labor union in Nevada. With what some call “the best insurance in America” — the fruit of struggles including a six-year strike — members of the Culinary Workers Union have been reluctant to support Mr. Sanders’s “Medicare for All” plan. We went to Nevada to ask how what is effectively an anti-endorsement of Mr. Sanders from the union’s leaders may affect his support in the state’s caucuses on Saturday.

Guests: Jennifer Medina, who is covering the 2020 presidential campaign for The Times traveled to Nevada with Clare Toeniskoetter and Austin Mitchell, producers for “The Daily.” For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

Background reading:

• Mr. Sanders, who is betting on the Latino vote to win the nomination, is trying to convince Nevada’s union members his policies are in their best interest. His rivals are trying to capitalize on the fight.
• The Nevada Democratic Party has been scrambling to put in effect safeguards in its caucuses to avoid the technical issues that created a debacle in Iowa. Here’s how the caucuses will work.

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Voters in New Hampshire pride themselves on helping winnow the nomination field. While many polls show Senator Bernie Sanders leading in this year’s primary, the caucus debacle in Iowa meant no single candidate left that first contest with full momentum. We flew from Iowa to New Hampshire, following the campaign trail and talking to voters about whether Democrats who don’t support Sanders are coalescing around another choice.

Guests: Lisa Lerer, a reporter at The New York Times, covering campaigns, elections and political power, and Clare Toeniskoetter and Jessica Cheung, producers on “The Daily.” For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

Background reading:

• Mr. Sanders and Mayor Pete Buttigieg, of South Bend, Ind., are hoping to make the race for the nomination a two-person contest.
• Still, after a voting fiasco in Iowa, it’s possible that five leading candidates will survive beyond New Hampshire.
• President Trump is coming to New Hampshire, too: He’s scheduled to hold a campaign rally in Manchester tonight and will be on the Republican ballot Tuesday. Here are the latest updates from the state’s last day of primary campaigning.

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With Iowa voters making their choice and the 2020 election getting underway, we’re introducing a new show: one covering the country and its voters in the lead up to Nov. 3. In our first episode of “The Field,” we ask Democratic caucusgoers how they’re feeling about the election. Traveling around the state, we found anxious Iowans asking one question over and over: Who can beat President Trump? Note: This episode contains strong language.

Guests: Astead W. Herndon, who covers national politics for The New York Times, and Austin Mitchell and Andy Mills, producers for “The Daily.” For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

Background reading:

• Confused by the Iowa caucuses? Here’s how they work.
• The New York Times polled 584 Democrats likely to caucus in Iowa. Fifteen of them agreed to talk to us on camera. Here is what they told us.
• The state with a huge influence in picking presidential candidates doesn’t look much like the country as a whole, except in one very striking way: a rapidly aging population.

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The media’s coverage of the 2016 presidential campaign has come to be criticized for operating under three key assumptions: that Hillary Clinton was certain to be the Democratic nominee, that Donald Trump was unlikely to be the Republican nominee, and that once Clinton and Trump had become their party’s nominees, she would win.

With voting for 2020 set to begin in Iowa on Monday, “The Daily” sat down with Dean Baquet, the executive editor of The New York Times, to discuss the lessons he — and the organization — learned from 2016. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

Background reading:

• This is our guide to the 2020 election.
• We’ve sent reporters to every corner of the country and told them not to make any assumptions in this election cycle. Here are some of the most in-depth stories we’ve told in an effort to help the country understand itself.
• As part of a new approach to election coverage, The Times’s editorial board has re-examined how — and why — it makes presidential endorsements.

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