Overshadowed by impeachment, 2020 Democrats to debate in Ohio

"Thanks to impeachment drama, however, this month is all about Trump and Congress," Walter wrote.

Here are some story lines to look for tonight:

1. Joe Biden. His son. Impeachment. President Trump. Biden has been in the spotlight in recent weeks a lot as President Trump has repeatedly attacked him - and Biden's son Hunter. Does that get brought up during tonight's debate? Does Biden bring it up on his own? Do others bring it up in a negative way to attack the former Vice President?

2. This time - 12 candidates are on stage. I'll call it the Democratic Dozen. After complaints about a debate stage with 10 people, this debate will have a dozen Democrats, which may make it more choppy in terms of who gets to talk, and for how long. Let's be honest - trying to balance the time for ten candidates didn't work out that well in the first three debates. Twelve will mean some candidates might disappear for a time during this three hour event. Yes, I said three hours.

3. Bernie Sanders had a heart attack. It's still sort of difficult to believe that one of the major Democratic Party candidates had a heart attack, and has been sidelined for the past two weeks - and it's not making that big of an impact on the race. Sanders spent several days in the hospital in Las Vegas, and has now been back at his home in Vermont, meaning the 78 year old Sanders will have been off the campaign trail for the past 14 days. Sanders has talked about slowing his schedule - his first campaign event won't be until a "Bernie's Back" rally in New York City on Saturday. As with Biden and impeachment, we'll see how Sanders addresses his health issues tonight; he remains a big player in the Democratic race.

4. What kind of audience will this debate get? Since this debate has been overshadowed by other news in recent weeks, we will have to see just how many people tune in for the Democratic Dozen. The September debate had to deal with a Thursday night NFL game, but this time Democrats will be doing a debate at the same time as the playoffs for Major League Baseball are underway. Ironically, the home team in Washington is playing on Tuesday night, which means some of the politically involved class of people in D.C. might not be watching every single debate question tonight from Westerville, Ohio.

5. Gabbard, Steyer are the new debate faces. Getting enough polls and donations to qualify for the October debate, Tulsi Gabbard returns to the debate stage after missing the September debate. Meanwhile, billionaire Tom Steyer makes his first debate, after not qualifying for the first three. Gabbard had been making noise about boycotting this debate, claiming that the Democratic Party hierarchy was not playing fair. As for Steyer, not only has he qualified for this debate, but he will also be on stage in November for the fifth debate, which will be in Georgia.  For Gabbard, this may be her final debate, unless she finds a way to take a dramatic step forward.

6. Looking ahead to November. The field may well shrink for the November debate, as at this point just eight Democrats have qualified with the necessary poll numbers and campaign donors. On the outside looking in are Amy Klobuchar, Beto O'Rourke, Tulsi Gabbard, and Julian Castro. Klobuchar and O'Rourke need three more polls to qualify. Gabbard and Castro have no polls as yet for November. Already qualified for November are Biden, Sanders, Warren, Harris, Buttigieg, Steyer, Booker and Yang.

Remember - the start of the 2020 race isn't far away.

Iowa is on February 3.

New Hampshire - Feb. 11

Nevada - February 22

South Carolina on February 29