It's hard to believe that with the 2020 General election almost a year and a half away, and the first early primary over 6 months away, that we're heading into the first Democratic party primary debate. Tonight and tomorrow night will feature a total of 20 (!) candidates hoping to make a name for themselves and garner more support. For the viewers, it will be a little weird, due to the lottery system they used to divide the candidates between the two nights.

For tonight's debate, Elizabeth Warren will be the sole "Big Dog" surrounded by puppies. Essentially, they'll all be vying for a veep slot. Besides her (she's currently at the top of the polls), the rest are at the bottom of the pack:

• Beto O’Rourke


• Amy Klobuchar


• Cory Booker


• Julian Castro


• Tim Ryan


• Tulsi Gabbard


• Jay Inslee


• Bill De Blasio


• John Delaney

Tomorrow night will have more firepower, as several top tier candidates try to steal any gains made by Warren in tonight's debate. Those candidates are:

• Joe Biden


• Bernie Sanders


• Kamala Harris


• Pete Buttigieg


• Kristen Gillibrand


• Andrew Yang


• Marianne Williamson


• John Hickenlooper


• Eric Swalwell


• Michael Bennet

So yes, there are some hopefuls here unlikely to make it past the first couple of primaries. There are also four potentials who did not qualify for the debates (either by funding or polling):

• Steve Bullock


• Seth Moulton


• Wayne Messam


• Mike Gravel

Of these 20, only Corey Booker is also up for re-election for the U.S. Senate next year. It would be a shame to lose him in the Senate, but it's a pretty safe Dem seat anyway. We'll see how far in the process he makes it.

For the other hopefuls (and - quite frankly - hopeless), Samantha Bee has a better idea: run for the Senate:

Yes indeed - we can flip the Senate. In some ways, that is even more important than taking the White House. If we want to put an end to the gross destruction of democracy, it's imperative we Ditch Mitch, by supporting the KY Dem Senate candidate, and any R willing to primary him. At the very least, returning him to Senate minority leader would be sweet.