Do the Democratic debates make a blind bit of difference?

One of these 10 will almost certainly face-off with Donald Trump next year

Bernie Sanders (left), Elizabeth Warren and Beto O’Rourke debate on the first night of the second 2020 Democratic US presidential debate in Detroit in July (Reuters)

So, it’s the big one.

After two spirited but not knockout debates, in which 20 Democratic hopefuls bashed heads with each other over the course of two nights, we finally get to see the major candidates – Joe Biden, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Julián Castro, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Beto O’Rourke, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Andrew Yang – on a single stage together.

This means two things. So far, Biden, the frontrunner with a history of mumbles and fluffs, has avoided having to defend himself against Warren, the most effective debater, and who probably has the most detailed set of policy proposals. He can no longer avoid the showdown.