A crowd of presidential candidates – who needs to surge and who needs to go?

To date, there are 25 registered and “serious” candidates vying to lead the Democratic Party in the 2020 election against President Donald Trump.

To put it in perspective: If this were an NFL game, you’d have a full field and still three players left watching and waiting on the sidelines for their chance to touch the ball.

It’s a lot of people. Odds are, given the enormous costs and time a campaign requires, it’s just not sustainable for most of the candidates.

On July 30 and 31, CNN will be hosting two debates to try and introduce all these candidates to a national audience. Screen time will be limited and opportunities must be seized. It’s a crucial moment for most of the 25.

So next week, some will emerge and likely, others will have to accept the reality that they just won’t be president.

• What will it take to emerge from the pack?
• Of the more popular candidates – who is at risk of losing relevance?
• Is there a dark horse who could upset the more usual suspects?

There is a lot to know going into these debates and that’s where our experts can help.

Dr. Gregg R. Murray, professor of political science at Augusta University, is available to talk about the current race to lead the DNC. Murray’s research focuses on political behavior and psychology with specific interests in voter mobilization and turnout. He is also executive director of the Association for Politics and the Life Sciences.