Any illusions that the 2020 contest is shaped around Biden were shattered on Wednesday night, when not one of the candidates — or moderators — mentioned, or even alluded to him
Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images If your debate-night drinking game revolved around mentions of the words “Joe Biden,” you’re reading this sober, or at least not hungover. The former vice-president remains the front-runner in the race, far ahead of the pack in polling and attention on cable news, but any illusions that the 2020 contest is shaped around him were shattered on Wednesday night, when not one of the candidates — or moderators — mentioned, or even alluded to him.
But the lack of questions about, or long-distance shots aimed at, Biden demonstrate that his opponents believe there’s little upside in engaging him now. That the shape of his appeal is different from any other front-runner we’ve seen in any of the last few presidential races, the Trumpian, Clintonian kind who becomes the contest’s center of gravity and forces others to respond to everything he or she does.
Yet when two hours of debate were done with not even a nod to the former vice-president, his rivals’ calculations revealed themselves: he is popular enough with Democratic voters that antagonizing him would backfire, they believe, especially when each of the candidates is aiming to win over a big chunk of his voters down the line. But he will fade on his own, they hope, so there is little realistic benefit to trying to make that happen now, artificially.
The night’s most memorable clashes featured Julián Castro on O’Rourke and John Delaney on those in the field standing to his right. The result was a shapeless but occasionally tense two hours featuring Elizabeth Warren maintaining her place in front of voters’ minds, punctuated by energetic moments by Cory Booker and Castro.
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