LOS ANGELES , California -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama will duel for Super Tuesday votes Thursday night as the Democratic presidential hopefuls face off for the first time together minus former Sen. John Edwards . Thursday 's debate is taking place at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles , California . The debate -- sponsored by CNN , the Los Angeles Times and Politico -- starts at 8 p.m. ET Thursday on CNN and CNN.com . CNN 's Wolf Blitzer is the moderator . The event is the first Democratic debate since Obama 's convincing victory Saturday in South Carolina . On Tuesday , Clinton won the Florida primary , a contest her campaign said helped the senator regain momentum even though it awarded no delegates . The forum at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood comes hours after the Obama campaign revealed it had raised $ 32 million in January from roughly 170,000 new donors . That amount will allow Obama to expand his television ad buys greatly in the 20-plus states holding primaries or caucuses Tuesday . Watch a time-lapse construction of the debate set '' The Clinton campaign would not indicate how much money it had raised in the same time period . Mike Gravel , the other Democratic presidential candidate still in the race , was not invited to participate in the debate because he did not meet certain criteria , including support in national polls . In a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll conducted January 14-17 , Gravel received less than 1 percent . Edwards suspended his presidential run Wednesday in New Orleans , Louisiana , but he did n't endorse any candidate despite what aides described as furious lobbying campaigns by Obama and Clinton . Thursday 's debate may be slightly more restrained than last week 's brutal showdown . Following her South Carolina loss , Clinton has largely steered clear of opportunities to take aim at Obama . Former President Bill Clinton also has avoided criticizing his wife 's rival after dominating headlines with his attacks in the days before the South Carolina vote . The economy is likely to dominate Thursday 's debate , as both candidates look to appeal to supporters of Edwards and his brand of economic populism . Clinton and Obama have split victories in their parties ' early-voting states : Obama has won in Iowa and South Carolina , and Clinton has won in New Hampshire , Nevada , Michigan and Florida . But the Michigan and Florida contests awarded no delegates , and all major Democratic presidential candidates pledged to avoid campaigning in those states following national party penalties against them for moving up their contests so early . Clinton was the only major candidate to appear on the Michigan ballot . Obama is leading Clinton in the number of pledged delegates -- those awarded based on primary or caucus votes . Clinton has the edge when superdelegates are factored in . -LRB- Superdelegates are party leaders and elected officials who are not obligated to support a particular candidate . They can change their decisions at any time leading up to the Democratic National Convention in August . -RRB- To date , Obama has won an estimated 63 national convention delegates as a result of primary or caucus votes , while Clinton has earned an estimated 48 delegates . Clinton , however , has the overall lead in delegates -- 232 to 158 -- when superdelegates are included . With solid fundraising numbers and a nod from Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts this week , Obama will be making the claim he holds the front-runner title . But Clinton -- who has led in national surveys for much of the race -- will be making her case as well . E-mail to a friend CNN 's Rebecca Sinderbrand contributed to this report .