Dems Focus on Early-Voting States      02/17 10:16

   Democratic presidential candidates are courting voters in states with 
influential early roles in the 2020 primary as the busy pace of campaigning 
over the holiday weekend shows that the contest to challenge President Donald 
Trump is fully underway.

   (AP) -- Democratic presidential candidates are courting voters in states 
with influential early roles in the 2020 primary as the busy pace of 
campaigning over the holiday weekend shows that the contest to challenge 
President Donald Trump is fully underway.

   The brisk pace of the candidates' stops Sunday in New Hampshire, Iowa and 
Nevada points to the up-for-grabs state of the race in its early stages. And 
Congress' Presidents Day recess gives the senators already running some extra 
time to promote their agendas.

   Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey is continuing his swing through New 
Hampshire. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota is set to visit Iowa. And Sen. 
Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts plans to be in Nevada, the first Western 
state to vote in the primary.

   Booker told voters on Saturday there are a "lot of pathways" to achieving 
universal health coverage and that just lowering Medicare eligibility to age 55 
would be "a step in the right direction." A backer of "Medicare for all", 
Booker said the idea's proponents are "going to have to find ways to advance 
the ball given the Congress that we have" as they work to win support.

   Klobuchar, after appearances in Minnesota and Wisconsin, is taking her case 
for Midwestern neighborly appeal to the state that opens voting with its 
caucuses.

   Warren heads to the West after campaigning in the South on Saturday. She met 
with an estimated 800 voters in Greenville, South Carolina, before heading to 
Georgia for an early appearance that signals Democratic hopes to make inroads 
in the South.

   Sen. Kamala Harris of California is due in New Hampshire on Monday following 
a two-day stop in South Carolina. At a town hall in West Columbia on Saturday, 
Harris said she believes this moment is a time "that we need fighters on stage 
who know how to fight --- I do --- and who have a proven desire to lead."

   Three high-profile potential candidates --- former Vice President Joe Biden, 
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke --- remain on 
the sidelines for now.


(CZ)