USA TODAY US Edition

At last, Democrats get their turn

With only six debates planned, candidates have to make it count

- Rem Rieder @remrieder

Rem Rieder: Republican­s have hogged limelight.

At last, the Democrats debut in prime time.

The first Democratic debate Tuesday night — in Vegas, no less — will turn the political conversati­on to a party whose primary contest has been largely eclipsed by the endlessly diverting competitio­n.

For months, the Republican­s have hogged the presidenti­al limelight with their overstuffe­d, side show-laden primary campaign.

Dominated by the antics of one Donald Trump — but with no shortage of subplots revolving around the gaffe-prone yet high-polling Ben Carson, the steely Carly Fiorina, the endlessly faltering Jeb Bush, the smart money pick Marco Rubio and so many more — the GOP battle royal has concentrat­ed attention like the proverbial highway collision. At times you want to avert your eyes, but you just can’t.

Not that the Democrats have been completely invisible in the media. There’s the occasional developmen­t in the ongoing saga of front-runner Hillary Clinton and her ill-fated decision to use a private email account while secretary of State.

There’s the surprising success of Sen. Bernie Sanders, a socialist from Vermont who is generating excitement, drawing massive crowds and steadily rising in the polls.

And there’s the will-he-or-won’t-he soap opera starring Vice President Biden, who shows signs of overtaking noted Danish prince Hamlet and the late New York governor Mario “A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Make Up” Cuomo as the king of indecision. But there is little question that they have taken a backseat to The Trump Show so far. Tuesday night’s confab is sponsored by CNN and Facebook and will be moderated by CNN’s Anderson Cooper. In the first Republican debate, Fox News’ trio of Megyn Kelly, Chris Wallace and Bret Baier distinguis­hed themselves with tough, serious questions for the combatants. During the second Republican debate on CNN, Jack Tapper sought to get the candidates to square off over their disagreeme­nts.

But Cooper is telegraphi­ng a kinder, gentler approach Tuesday night.

“I’m always uncomforta­ble with that notion of setting people up in order to kind of promote some sort of a faceoff,” he said Sunday on CNN’s Reliable Sourc

es. “I think these are all serious people. This is a serious debate. They want to talk about the issues. And I want to give them an opportunit­y to do that.”

A radical notion, but perhaps not without merit!

No doubt spurred by the Trump factor, the first two GOP debates attracted huge audiences, far larger than in the past. About 24 million tuned in to debate No. 1 on Fox, making it the mostwatche­d non-sports event in the history of cable television. About 22.9 million watched No. 2, giving CNN the largest audience in its history.

But without his magnetic presence, Trump warns, the Democratic conclave won’t be a similar graveyard smash.

“I think people are going to turn it on for a couple of minutes and then fall asleep,” he told Fox

and Friends on Monday, adding with his customary modesty that someone at CNN had told him, “We have to put Donald Trump in this debate.”

In the absence of the bombas- tic one, there’s no question that all eyes will be on Clinton on Tuesday night. She has been the prohibitiv­e favorite for months, just as she was in the 2008 primary before she was steamrolle­red by Barack Obama. Her ham-fisted response to the email controvers­y has hurt her, to the point that Sanders leads in New Hampshire.

So which Clinton will show up? The defensive, legalistic, off-putting Clinton of the email wars? Or the relaxed Clinton who was so appealing on Saturday Night Live?

Either way, it’s important to remember Clinton has done a lot of these and, for the most part, has proven to be an effective debater.

Sanders has certainly been the Democratic phenom of the season. It’s not often you hear a 74year-old, perpetuall­y rumpled, gravelly voiced socialist described as a “rock star,” but Sanders has stirred up that kind of enthusiasm.

His task is to broaden his appeal and to show that his lefty views are not too far out there, that he can come across as someone a large number of people can picture as a plausible person to be working out of the Oval Office.

Clinton and Sanders haven’t gone after each other with the ardor with which their Republican counterpar­ts have brawled. That may be the role of Martin O’Malley, the former Maryland governor and Baltimore mayor who has long been waging a serious campaign, with little to show for it. While O’Malley has the requisite public-policy bona fides, that often doesn’t translate into campaign trail success, as a South Carolinian named Lindsey Graham could tell him.

O’Malley has to start making headway soon if he is going to be a factor, as do fellow second-tier candidates Jim Webb, a former Virginia senator, and Lincoln Chafee, a former Rhode Island senator and governor (and former Republican).

And because the Democratic National Committee reprehensi­bly has limited the number of debates to six, far fewer than the GOP total, the candidates have to make every one count.

In the absence of the bombastic one, there’s no question that all eyes will be on Hillary Clinton on Tuesday night.

 ?? CLINTON AND SANDERS BY GETTY IMAGES; BIDEN BY WIREIMAGE ??
CLINTON AND SANDERS BY GETTY IMAGES; BIDEN BY WIREIMAGE
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 ?? JOE RAEDLE, GETTY IMAGES ?? Hillary Clinton has been the Democratic favorite for months but has seen her support erode in the midst of the email controvers­y.
JOE RAEDLE, GETTY IMAGES Hillary Clinton has been the Democratic favorite for months but has seen her support erode in the midst of the email controvers­y.
 ?? PAUL MORIGI, WIREIMAGE ?? Vice President Biden has yet to decide if he will enter the 2016 fray.
PAUL MORIGI, WIREIMAGE Vice President Biden has yet to decide if he will enter the 2016 fray.
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GETTY IMAGES ?? Sen. Bernie Sanders continues to rise in the polls.
ALEX WONG, GETTY IMAGES Sen. Bernie Sanders continues to rise in the polls.
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