By Ginger Gibson
Sept 11 (Reuters) - Leading Democratic White Housecontenders Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren will share the stagefor the first time on Thursday when the top 10 candidates forthe party's presidential nomination meet in a debate in Houston.
Twenty Democrats continue to vie for their party'snomination to challenge Republican President Donald Trump inNovember 2020, but party rules about polling and fundraisingresulted in only half of them qualifying for the debate inHouston.
All of the top 10 Democrats will debate on one night,allowing voters to take stock of the leaders side-by-side.
Here are some key moments to watch for during the debate.
THE TOP THREE
The condensed debate stage will generate some first-timematchups, but arguably the most anticipated is the one betweenformer Vice President Biden, the leader in most opinion polls,and U.S. Senator Warren of Massachusetts, who is nipping at hisheels.
The two exemplify the ideological divide between themoderate and liberal wings of the Democratic Party, and thecentral question voters face in the 2020 primary race: Betweenpledges to restore pre-Trump normalcy, or embark on ambitiousreform, what is a better ticket to defeat Trump in the November2020 election?
Warren's recent gain on U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders ofVermont in polls has also raised speculation that the twofriends and progressive allies could abandon their agreement tonot criticize one another.
"In Detroit, those two somewhat teamed up to defend theprogressive flag of the party. Given the state of the racetoday, I will keep an eye on whether Sanders decides to draw asharper contrast with Warren,” said Joel Payne, a Democraticstrategist who worked for Hillary Clinton in 2016.
For U.S. Senator Kamala Harris of California and South Bend,Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, the debate presents a narrowingset of chances to break through into the top tier.
Buttigieg "needs a moment, he needs to engage in the waythat people like and that shows that he’s the kind of personwho, for example, could take on Trump," said Bob Shrum, apolitical science professor at the University of SouthernCalifornia and former Democratic strategist.
HOURS WITHOUT A GAFFE?
Biden enters the his third debate atop the field, even afterhis first two debate performances were criticized as lackluster,while his campaign has had to fend off questions about repeatedmisstatements on the campaign trail.
In the second debate in July, Biden fully embraced his roleat the race's centrist, criticizing his opponents for pullingthe field to the left.
At that time, Biden benefited from the chorus of othermoderates joining his defense. But now, those candidates are offthe stage and Biden may have to make the centrist case himself.
Biden, 76, has also faced questions from some voters abouthis age and whether he has the stamina to make it through alengthy and taxing presidential race. In Houston, he will bestanding next to Sanders, 78, the oldest candidate in the field.
"Biden will likely continue to take a page from Donald Trumpin 2016. If you’ll remember, Trump essentially, just treadedwater in the debates," said Payne.
"He never won any debate but he managed to stay above thefray. Biden is likely hoping that he can ride a similar strategyto get through a splintered Dem primary."
WHAT DOES SHE STAND FOR?
The candidate who has benefited the most from the debates sofar is Harris - but after a well-reviewed performance in thefirst round, she watched the lead she amassed dwindle by thesecond debate when she pulled off a less-than-stellar showing.Heading into the third debate, she is struggling to breakthrough to the top of the field.
A September Reuters/Ipsos poll found that Harris andButtigieg were tied with 4% support of Democrats andindependents - a big drop for the senator, who once registeredat 10%.
In the first debate she attacked. In the second debate shewas attacked. Now, she is under pressure to articulate what shestands for.
"In the second debate she was not very effective when shewas challenged. I myself can’t quite figure out what her messageis other than I was a prosecutor and I can prosecute Trump –which is a pretty thin message," Shrum said.
CLOSING WINDOW
For the candidates in the bottom half, such as former U.S.Housing Secretary Julian Castro, U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar ofMinnesota and Cory Booker of New Jersey and business leaderAndrew Yang, the debate provides one of their only chances totry to change the public perception of their candidacy.
One way to do that is to try and land a blow on leadingrivals, such as when Harris effectively attacked Biden over hisrecord on race at the first debate in Miami.
But ultimately, since most of these low-polling candidateshave positioned themselves between the Biden-representedcentrist establishment and the left wing led by Warren andSanders, they will struggle to gain momentum unless Bidendeclines, experts say.
The window is closing, Shrum warns.
"For those folks to break through, Biden has to fade and ifhe’s going to fade, he has to start doing this in this debatebecause he has shown incredible resilience," Shrum said.
DUELING OVER HEALTHCARE
What the nation's healthcare system should look like hasproven to be the most divisive topic during the first twodebates.
That could remain the case on Thursday, after the latestgovernment report showed on Tuesday that the share of Americanswithout health insurance rose for the first time in a decadelast year.
About 27.5 million Americans, or 8.5% of people, did nothave health insurance in 2018, an increase of almost 2 millionfrom the year before when 7.9% of people lacked coverage, theCensus Bureau report https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-economy-census/ahead-of-election-year-more-americans-lack-health-insurance-incomes-stall-idUSKCN1VV1U3found.
The most liberal candidates like Warren and Sanders areadvocating a complete government takeover of health insurance, asystem that would eliminate private insurance and raise taxes.
But the more centrist wing of the party, led by Biden andjoined by Klobuchar, say that a public option should beavailable to whoever would like to have it but should not bemandated. Biden argues that the national electorate is notinterested in a government takeover of health insurance.(Reporting by Ginger Gibson; Editing by Soyoung Kim andJonathan Oatis)