Now it's the Democrats' turn to debate

Vice President Biden's pending decision whether to enter the Democratic presidential race is overshadowing the five actual candidates, who are rehearsing, reading fat briefing binders, and consulting policy experts as they prepare to meet Tuesday in Las Vegas for the party's first nationally televised debate.

CNN is saving a spot for Biden on the debate stage, but the vice president is not expected to attend. Biden has been considering a third try for the White House, which has been portrayed as the dying wish of his son Beau, who succumbed to brain cancer in May.

Front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton comes into the debate battered, fighting a perception that she is untrustworthy and still is trying to articulate a compelling rationale beyond inevitability for her six-month-old campaign. She has been losing ground to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who threatens in the early voting states of New Hampshire and Iowa.

Clinton also has been grappling with controversy over her handling of classified material on a private email server while secretary of state. Her political weakness, while perhaps momentary, has intensified calls from some Democrats for Biden to run, suggesting a path to victory.

"Biden clearly will be watching the debate and the postdebate polls closely," said Democratic media strategist Neil Oxman. "If she stabilizes and rebounds, that gives him pause. If she continues to deteriorate, that can only encourage him."

The first Republican debate on Fox News in August drew 24 million viewers, and the second last month, on CNN, drew 22.9 million, according to Nielsen. With many fewer candidates and no Donald Trump, the Democratic debate audience might not reach those heights, but it presents an opportunity to influence the race.

Strategists say that Clinton will embrace Sanders' lefty ideals while trying to undercut his proposals as utopian and unworkable.

The challenge for Sanders: Will his fiery stump speech translate well to the cooler medium of television and a debate format?

"It's Sanders' first opportunity to talk to a lot of people who don't know him, and he'll do everything he can to appear presidential," Democratic consultant Daniel F. McElhatton said.

Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley just hopes to get noticed. "All O'Malley needs is one Ben Carson moment," said Democratic strategist Joe Trippi, referring to the neurosurgeon who got a boost from the first GOP debate.

Former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee and former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb also will participate.

Clinton's advisers believe she can portray herself as more pragmatic than Sanders. He wants to build a single-payer health-care system and spend $1 trillion on infrastructure. He says he would spend $47 billion a year to end tuition at public colleges. Clinton does not go as far, calling for $350 billion in new spending over 10 years to help students graduate debt-free.

Last week, Clinton tacked to her left, coming out against the 12-nation Asian free trade agreement, which she helped negotiate and has called "the gold standard." Liberals and organized labor oppose the deal, which they say will cost U.S. jobs. Clinton's shift could blunt attacks Sanders and O'Malley have been making on the issue.

Biden, if he were to run, would be the only Democratic candidate besides Chafee in favor of the deal.

Sanders has a vulnerability on gun issues, Clinton's advisers believe. A senator from a rural state, he voted against the Brady Bill, which included background-check requirements for most gun purchases, and also backed a measure giving firearms makers immunity from lawsuits.

Both Clinton and O'Malley have touted stepped-up gun control after the mass shooting at a community college in Roseburg, Ore., two weeks ago.

Both Clinton and Sanders are likely to tread carefully in drawing contrasts with each other. "I think they'll be careful in the first debate - call out contrasts but avoid personal attacks," McElhatton said.

Clinton is a formidable debater who is thought to have won many of the televised battles during her 2008 run for the Democratic nomination against Obama, Biden, and others.

"It's actually going to be a positive for her, given that the last five or six months have been so negative, all about her email server no matter what," Trippi said. "She'll be able to get her message out to millions of people who haven't heard that."

But analysts say the candidate who often seems overscripted also needs to project warmth.

"She's extremely intelligent with a long history of fighting for people, but she has to show a clear vision and she has to seem real," said Democratic strategist Rebecca Kirszner Katz, who has been a top adviser to New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, former presidential candidate John Edwards, and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.

"Voters don't want fake," Katz said. "They are sick of spin. The winner of the debate will be the candidate who shows both substance and authenticity."

Oxman said that party voters, worried about their families' financial security, were worn out by the usual political rhetoric.

"The Democratic electorate is looking for answers that they feel they're not getting from mainstream Democrats," he said.

If Clinton can provide some of those answers Tuesday night, she could begin to quiet concerns after her rough summer.

tfitzgerald@phillynews.com

215-854-2718

@tomfitzgerald

www.inquirer.com/bigtent

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Democratic Debate

When: 9 p.m. Tuesday.

Where: Las Vegas.

Moderator: Anderson Cooper.

TV: CNN.

Who: Hillary Rodham Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Martin O'Malley, Jim Webb, and Lincoln Chafee. Vice President Biden could join them if he enters the race.

Republican Debate

When: Oct. 28.

8 p.m. primetime debate,

6 p.m. undercard debate.

TV: CNBC.

Where: University of Colorado

in Boulder.

Who: Candidates with

at least 3 percent polling average appear in prime time, the rest at the 6 p.m. debate.

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