In the Democratic debate this week, expect Biden to come under attack — but not by Liz Warren or Bernie

This week will also see a lot of jostling from other candidates to get into fourth place, in order to secure a space as VP on the presidential nominee's ticket

The top three polling candidates are unlikely to attack each other too fiercely now they've got this far (Getty)

It looks like this week’s Democratic debate will be another uncomfortable night for former VP Joe Biden and an opportunity for the rest of the candidates, especially Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.), to shine.

With the 10 highest polling candidates onstage (out of 20 still technically in the running), the third, one-night-only debate will also provide a chance for one of the other Democratic hopefuls to step firmly into fourth place. Fourth place is important, because it means becoming a potential vice-president on the ticket alongside the next Democratic presidential nominee.

Given the horrific death toll from the mass shootings in August in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, the candidates will need to address the gun violence epidemic in this country, and Congress’s unwillingness to pass adequate gun control legislation. Specifically, Former Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke—who is from El Paso, and Mayor Pete Buttigieg, a military veteran — will be expected to speak about the problem, considering that shootings last month in those two states alone killed 31 people.

Another hot topic right now is the economy, something Trump promised to bolster but whose results are now looking pretty uninspiring. Elizabeth Warren has been warning Americans about the economy since before the 2008 recession and is again warning of another impending economic recession. The Massachusetts Senator and former Harvard Law professor will surely highlight her history campaigning for consumer protections – even when Biden fought her on it over a decade ago.

Bernie will also want to capitalize on the topic, most likely by bringing up the student loan crisis and his student loan debt cancellation plan. Although millions of Americans could majorly benefit from Sanders’s plan, which would cancel $1.6 trillion in federal student loan debt by applying a tax on Wall Street transactions, those who aren’t part of his base worry about how he would pay for it.

Biden is the frontrunner among Dems in the polls and is set to stand center-stage, and shoulder-to-shoulder, with Sanders and Warren tomorrow. An early CBS pre-election delegate estimate shows the Senator from Massachusetts is gaining ground on Biden, but don’t expect to see Warren or Sanders lay into the former VP unless he challenges them directly. Warren, for one, has already indicated that she is more interested in sticking to the issues than going after Biden during the debate.

But that doesn’t mean it won’t be an exciting night. While Warren and Sanders had stellar performances at CNN’s Climate Change Forum on September 4th; Biden’s choice to attend a fundraiser co-hosted by an executive in the fossil fuel industry immediately after touting his supposed plan for a “Clean Energy Revolution” at the Forum has made him especially vulnerable to attack by the many candidates who have recently talked about climate change policy. With the other Democratic hopefuls looking to standout from the crowd and show they have what it takes to confront Trump in a presidential debate, they will no doubt want to use their airtime to discredit the former VP’s political record and point out his recent campaign gaffes, positioning him as an inappropriate leader for the future.

And there will be plenty of opportunities to attack the Democratic frontrunner: Biden’s been the defender of big credit card companies over consumers; he opposed desegregation in the 1970’s; he voted against gay marriage; he supported the invasion of Iraq; and he wrote the 1994 “tough on crime” law that led to mass incarceration, especially of black men. More recently, he either forgot, invented or heavily embellished war stories on the campaign trail and then told a National Public Radio reporter that his mistakes didn’t matter.

But the truth is that his gaffes don’t matter to his supporters. Sticking to a campaign strategy that emphasizes personability over content, judgement and transparency, we can expect Biden to make defensive jokes and lean back on the “Uncle Joe” persona as he attempts to fend off better-prepared opponents. Biden knows his audience well: his supporters are the Democrats from yesteryear who care more about familiarity and continuity than they do about his commitment to issues like climate change. Moderate Democrats are simply more worried about not rocking the boat too much than getting someone into the Oval Office who can walk the walk on the environment, women’s reproductive rights, or other issues which have had a recent airing. And, well, moderate Dems are the ones keeping average Joe ahead in the polls.

So, if the candidates want to rock the boat on Biden in Thursday’s debates they will need to communicate to those watching that — despite America’s need for unprecedented change after four years of a maniacal presidency steeped in ignorance and hate —electing Biden as the Democratic nominee would mean another old backslapping politician who tells you what want you want to hear and then goes on to do backroom deals that are good for them and their cronies anyway. In other words, they will need to tell the electorate that Joe Biden doesn’t equal change.

Let’s hope people are paying close attention.