Knives are fully out ahead of tonight's Democratic debate

• Bernie Sanders heads into Tuesday night's debate as the current frontrunner in the Democratic primary, his rivals are stepping up their attacks against the Vermont senator. "We've trained our eyes on him," one Michael Bloomberg campaign aide told POLITICO.
• On Monday, his opponents released a barrage of criticism in the form of tweets, attack ads, and statements after 60 Minutes showed old footage of Sanders appearing to praise Fidel Castro.
• But Sanders wasn't the only target: a pro-Sanders group released an old video of Bloomberg presenting an award to Harvey Weinstein.
• The attacks signify that the 2020 Democratic primary has entered a newer, nastier phase after over a year of candidates playing it (relatively) civil.
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Attack ads.Tweets linking a U.S. Senator with history's most infamous despots. Video of a presidential candidate with Harvey Weinstein. Leaked closed-door audio. 

• Michael Bloomberg launched a new strategy to attack Bernie Sanders on his gun control stance, but the Vermont senator has been through this before
• Joe Biden's support among black voters is eroding days ahead of make-or-break primaries
• Bernie Sanders takes a double-digit lead in 2 national polls, while Michael Bloomberg is on the ascent

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