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While the dynamics of any debate are impossible to predict, each candidate has a specific set of objectives to best position themselves as the campaign moves ahead.
Yet the first debate raised some serious questions. Some of the well-known baggage that Biden brings to the table, some of the compromises he has made along the way in his Senate career and his tendency to stumble in high-profile moments, all came to light within a few seconds.
The debate in Detroit offers him another chance to prove to voters that he can perform in this arena. Democrats need to imagine what he will look like when facing off against Trump during the crucial months of next year’s general election. At this point, Biden’s biggest vulnerability is his tendency for self-inflicted wounds during the campaign.
Elizabeth Warren
But given Biden’s standing she will need to consolidate the non-Biden Democrats, along with the marginal Biden supporters, around her candidacy. This means that in the debate her objective will be to keep making the case that she is the most credible coalition builder rather than the frontrunner.
Bernie Sanders
Sen. Bernie Sanders has remained steady, but he needs to show that he can broaden his support. He still commands a passionate following. For those Democrats, he remains the most authentic progressive voice and a politician who has been brave enough to be bold on important issues.
But his support has not greatly expanded and in some places it has diminished. Sanders needs to use this debate to ignite the crowd. He needs to convince Democrats outside his orbit that his policy positions are winning issues and that he can best appeal to the working-class voters in states like Wisconsin that Democrats desperately want to win back. He needs to go beyond repeating his accomplishments from 2016 and make a case for 2020.
Kamala Harris
Harris still remains something of a mystery. While Biden is all about the promise of being electable, much of Harris’ buzz remains the fact she is a smart and skillful politician. But she needs to fill in some of the gaps by talking about the issues that matter most to her and outlining a bolder agenda that she seeks to pursue. As someone who has spent much of her career as a pragmatist, offering such a vision may not be easy.
Even though she is not on the stage with Warren, she needs to offer an argument about why her candidacy is more powerful than the other major non-Biden frontrunner. This is her chance to introduce the heart of her run.
Pete Buttigieg
While the mayor brings many strengths to the table and remains in strong position to win over Biden voters should that campaign falter, he has yet to really sell the most powerful part of his candidacy: generational change. This was a theme that he raised when he announced but one that has somewhat faded ever since. He has to use his age to his advantage and argue that expunging the politics that produced Trumpism requires a candidate from a new generation, one willing to think about problems in fundamentally different ways than older politicians.
He needs to deal head-on with the structures of politics, such as the Electoral College, that keep reproducing dysfunction and made a President like Trump possible. As a well-educated, married gay man who voluntarily served in the military and focused on local politics, his life story is a symbol of the frustration many Americans feel, as well as the Kennedy-like promise of a new era.
Everyone else
If they’re not able to make some kind of splash, the pressure for them to exit will intensify. They have to offer a strong taste of what distinguishes them and what makes them viable should there be openings if any of the top candidates falter.
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