The first of 12 nationally televised Democratic presidential debates will be held over two nights on June 26-27 in Miami Beach, Florida to be broadcast by NBC, MSNBC and Telemundo, according to the uspresidentialelectionnews.com website. The two-night format is due to the large number of candidates seeking the presidency during the national election in November 2020.

So far 19 candidates have qualified for this debate and the others have until just before the debate to qualify. According to the rules set by the Democratic National Committee – “A candidate will need to either have at least 1-percent support in three qualifying polls, or provide evidence of at least 65,000 individual donations from a minimum of 200 different donors in at least 20 states.”

All the now common household political names will be there like Sleepy Joe Biden, Crazy Bernie, Pocahontas, Meany Klobuchar, Mayor Buttigieg and Texas Beto. New York City Mayor Bla Bla has not yet qualified and let’s hope he just stays home. Out of all the current 25 candidates Mayor Bla Bla is by far the biggest joke.

The Miami Beach two-night debate will ensure each candidate gets access to a primetime audience. Debate sponsors and moderators have yet to be announced. Six debates will be held during 2019 with another six beginning in January.

It’s a sure bet the DNC will tighten the rules to qualify for future debates, narrow the field and eliminate those candidates that stand no chance of winning. So who will be the last man or woman standing?

The first-in-the-nation caucus vote in Iowa is set for Feb. 3, 2020 followed by the New Hampshire Feb. 11. Then come Nevada and South Carolina followed by Super Tuesday March 3 in which 13 states from coast-to-coast will vote.

Once these elections are held these two dozen or so Democratic candidates — one-by-one — will drop out like little tin soldiers falling off a cliff. Some will throw their support behind another candidate while others will not. There will be many surprises during Campaign 2020 with twists and turns guaranteed. This election cycle is going to be a rough and tumble rumble in the jungle prized by political junkies who saver it every four years like the Olympics.

Since the last national election in 2016 California moved their primary election to Super Tuesday on March 3. The state of New York is attempting to move their primary election to Feb. 4 the day after Iowa but the legislature has yet to vote on it. Chances are they won’t and the New York primary will be held April 28 joining with Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, according to Wikipedia.

Primary elections in 2020 end June 16 in the District of Columbia. By this time most people will be sick and tired of political advertising everywhere they look – on TV, on smartphone social media and all that junk mail. But then all the fun of negative ads begins with renewed energy with each remaining candidate slamming the other leading up to the national Republican and Democratic conventions.

The Democrats will sort it all out in Milwaukee, Wisconsin July 13-16 while the Republicans will again nominate President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence in Charlotte, North Carolina August 24-27.

Among all of the Democrats running for the presidency look out for U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard from Hawaii to find a way to break from the pack and become a real contender. Born in American Samoa, a U.S. Army combat veteran and a practicing Hindu she is the most interesting candidate in this year’s political arena but the Democratic establishment fears her because she has an unpredictable mind of her own.

The contrast between President Trump and politically savvy Gabbard would make the upcoming national debates absolutely stunning – this young, smart and beautiful woman with nerves of steel going up against the old white guy Trump.

This is the stuff political dreams are made of – Gabbard Vs Trump on Nov. 3 — could go either way. It would be a lot like Muhammad Ali going up against Joe Frazer in the 1975 “Thrilla in Manila.”

Britt Nelson relocated to Costa Rica in 2011 from Florida, where he served as news editor for the Palatka Daily News, a newspaper owned by the New York Times Regional Newspaper Group (NYT-RNG) for 20 years.

Nelson served the NYT-RNG for 18 years in Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida as a correspondent, reporter, staff writer, senior staff writer training new reporters, copy editor, page designer, editorial writer, editorial page editor and editorial board member