Thursday's Democratic Debate: How to Watch, and What to Watch for

UPDATE: We're live-blogging the debate here. Come join the fun!

BROOKLYN, NY — After more than a month of passive-aggressive sparring through subtweets and spokespeople, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders will finally find themselves in the same room again Thursday night, forced to hash out their differences face-to-face.

Adding to the anticipation — nationally, but especially here in New York City — is the fact that Clinton and Sanders will face off on Brooklyn soil. Clinton used to represent Brooklyn (and the rest of NYC) in the U.S. Senate, and famously chose a Brooklyn Heights high-rise as her 2016 campaign headquarters. Her opponent's local lore runs even deeper — back to days of baby Bernie playing marbles and "punch ball" in the streets of Flatbush until the sun went down.

In short: It's lit. And not to be missed. So here's how not to miss it.

How do I watch?

The debate runs from 9 pm. to 11 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, April 14.

It will be housed inside the huge, hangar-like Duggal Greenhouse building in the Brooklyn Navy Yard — aka, Building 268.

Wolf Blitzer will host. CNN’s Dana Bash and NY1’s Errol Louis will be allowed ask some questions, too.

Members of the general pubic are not permitted to attend in person. (A few golden tickets were reported to be available at one point, but you more or less needed to know either Sanders or Clinton personally to get your hands on one.)

However! CNN will reportedly be airing the debate live, FOR FREE, on its website starting 9 p.m. Eastern Time. Because democracy.

For the better-connected among us, the debate will be airing live on these four TV channels: CNN, CNN International, CNN en Español and NY1. The audio will also stream live on CNN’s SiriusXM channel.

You could also probably convince your local bar to air the thing, considering it's the Brooklyn TV event of the year or whatever.

If for some reason you only find yourself with access to Patch.com, or just really respect our opinions for some reason, we'll be running a live-blog here of major debate moments.

One more option: Join the hundreds of Verizon workers who plan to take their historic strike to the Navy Yard Thursday night. You probably won't see (or hear) Clinton or Sanders, but you'll also get to tell your grandchildren you were on the front lines of the 2016 picket against the political and corporate establishment.

What do I watch for?

Pure, unbridled, last-ditch desperation. Both candidates know they need to win the Democratic primary election on April 19 in delegate-heavy New York.

For Clinton, it could secure her spot as the Democratic nominee, making the rest of the run a breeze. For Sanders, the vote is nothing less than his last chance to stay in the race for U.S. president. "If he doesn't win New York, he would have to come very, very close" to stay afloat in the primaries, Brooklyn College professor emeritus and election watcher Antonio Nadal told Patch. "It would have to be by a few percentage points."

An NYC-off. Sanders and Clinton have both spent the last two weeks trying to prove they're New Yorkier than their rival. (If you somehow missed the charade, this Saturday Night Live bit will do just fine as a recap.)

"Bernie has made a big point he was raised in Brooklyn, but Hillary has tremendous machinery with people who actually come out to vote," Nadal said — in other words, older, more established residents like the church ladies of Crown Heights. That advantage is showing in the polls: Clinton is still at least 10 points ahead of Sanders.

However, as Sanders and his warm-up speakers made sure to point out at his mega-rally in Washington Square Park last night, he's managed to pull ahead in the last SEVEN state primary elections — despite polls showing Clinton had the lead.

Personal attacks (or a lack thereof). Clinton and Sanders have been going pretty nuts on each other in the press lately, trading accusations that, among other things, their opponent is "unqualified" to run the country. (And Sanders didn't help his case with that disheveled New York Daily News interview.)

The candidates will likely address the recent nastiness Thursday night, then veer the conversation further down the neg hole or steer it to a higher road. Will Hillary Clinton's eyeballs roll so far back in her head that they literally pop out? Will Bernie spray his spittle so irately that Wolf Blitzer gets a faceful? We're watching you, children.

A discussion of important national issues and stuff. Trade, minimum wage, universal healthcare, social security, college tuition, the economy, gun control, foreign policy, ISRAEL and all the other boring things a person must consider when asking the rest of the people to let them run the country.

Again, here's where we'll be live-blogging Thursday night. Crack a cold one, New York, and follow along.