SNEAK PEEK: ABC Iowa Democratic Debate

August 17, 2007— -- It's hot, your friends are out of town – may as well stay in Saturday night and watch the re-run of High School Musical 2 because for the second time this month, you cannot afford to oversleep on Sunday morning!

George Stephanopoulos moderates the fifth Democratic presidential debate (and the first Democratic debate in the key state of Iowa) Sunday at 9:00 am ET as part of a special edition of "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" at Drake University.

The 90 minute debate will feature the eight Democratic presidential candidates: Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, John Edwards, Mike Gravel, Dennis Kucinich, Barack Obama, and Bill Richardson.

In the latest ABC News/Washington Post Iowa Democratic poll, it's a tight race among the three frontrunners. Obama leads with 27 percent and Clinton and Edwards are right there with him, polling 26 percent each.

Like to multitask? You can follow all the ins and outs online Sunday morning at http://abcnews.go.com/politics. ABC News' Rick Klein will be live-blogging during the debate and the ABC News Political Unit will provide real-time fact checking and analysis. And check out a preview here:

Klein caught up with John Edwards on his campaign bus in Iowa Friday and the former senator and VP candidate didn't mince words when it came to the Democratic frontrunners. (Perhaps he was warming up for Sunday as he seeks to sharpen his differences with Obama and Clinton).

Edwards derided as "fantasy" Obama's hope that he can work with Washington lobbyists to bring about change and said that Obama's statement that lobbyists would "have a seat at the table" under his administration misunderstands the nature of their power over Washington business.

Klein reports that Edwards had sharper words for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, suggesting that she would bring her own group of "Washington insiders" if she were elected president.

Des Moines is chock full of Democrats this weekend, but that didn't stop still-undeclared Fred Thompson from making his first foray into the Hawkeye State.