The Note: Debate season quickens pace of 2020 primary

The TAKE with Rick Klein

The presidential candidates are about to see quite a bit of each other. And the pressure to be seen and noticed in a crowded field will change the fundamentals of the Democratic primary -- and fast.

The Democratic National Committee's announcement Wednesday about the third debate -- to air on ABC News and Univision Sept. 12-13 -- underscores how quickly the wide field could winnow.

With the first debate of the 2020 cycle four weeks from Wednesday, a new phase of the campaign begins. Multi-candidate forums in California this weekend and Iowa the weekend after will lead into candidate qualification announcements for the first debate.

The Democratic National Committee's move to split up top-tier candidates over two nights in Miami next month will give fresh chances to lesser-known candidates. But that only goes for those who make the cut to participate at all, with 23 major candidates and only 20 available slots.

To qualify for debates in September and October, candidates must hit 2% in four polls and accrue 130,000 individual donors.

That's double both the polling and donation threshold needed to reach the debate stages in June and July.

The RUNDOWN with Kendall Karson

Primary challengers might be uniting establishment Democrats and Republicans in the upcoming 2020 battle for Congress.

The Senate GOP's campaign arm instituted a zero-tolerance policy, pledging to cut ties with any political consulting firms and vendors who work with candidates challenging Republican incumbents Tuesday -- a move that appears to be following suit with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which unveiled a similar policy earlier this year.

While the National Republican Congressional Committee does not get involved in primaries, according to a spokesperson, the DCCC's new protocol was met with swift criticism from progressive groups who argued that the rule stifles efforts to support a "new generation of leaders into the Democratic Party."

But at the highest echelons of the Democratic Party, the 2020 candidates are not afraid to bolster primary challengers amid the campaign committee protections.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee joined New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand late Tuesday in backing Democrat Marie Newman in her second bid to unseat one of the last Democrats in Congress opposing abortion, Rep. Dan Lipinski, D-Ill., in one of this cycle's most competitive congressional primary races.

As the 2018 midterms show, recent history has not been kind to the establishment in this type of long and bitter fight. ​

The TIP with Sasha Pezenik

"Running with Beto," a new film following Beto O'Rourke's near-miss 2018 senate campaign aims at unflinching intimacy consonant with the former congressman-turned-presidential hopeful's vintage: sweat showing through the back of his blue button down, shaking countless hands and the appearance of disarming honesty.

The guys who co-executive produced the film know a thing or two about harnessing that feeling of hope: Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett and Tommy Vietor (otherwise known as the "Pod Save America" guys) are former President Barack Obama staffers -- Favreau was his director of speech writing.

They are but several top creatives in an exponentially growing troupe of former Obama heavy-hitters on board the Beto train -- from his recently appointed campaign manager to his superdelegate guru.

The release of the film, an advance screener of which was given to ABC News ahead of its premiere, comes as Team Beto gears up for a relaunch of their own after faltering some in messaging -- and the polls.

THE PLAYLIST

ABC News' "Start Here" podcast. Wednesday morning's episode features ABC News' Senior Washington Reporter Devin Dwyer and New York University law professor Melissa Murray as the two break down Tuesday's abortion rulings from the Supreme Court. And ABC News Political Director Rick Klein brings us up to speed on the war of words between President Donald Trump and Joe Biden, and outlines the new criteria for the third Democratic presidential debate, hosted by ABC News. http://apple.co/2HPocUL

FiveThirtyEight's Politics Podcast. Last week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi amped up criticism of Trump while tamping down calls for impeachment from within her own caucus. TheFiveThirtyEight Politics podcast crew debates the efficacy of her reportedly intentional strategy. The team also weighs the usefulness of a poll that matches Joe Biden up against his high-profile Democratic presidential opponents and considers the effects of the Democratic National Committee's debate rules. https://53eig.ht/2I4knrQ

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

Download the the ABC News app and select "The Note" as an item of interest to receive the sharpest political analysis every weekday.