Democratic presidential candidates Senator Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton take part in a presidential debate sponsored by CNN and Facebook at Wynn Las Vegas on Oct. 13, 2015.Joe Raedle/Getty Images
His name was never mentioned but candidate-in-waiting U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden may have been the biggest loser in Tuesday night's debate among Democratic Party presidential contenders.
Mr. Biden, still grieving over the death of his son, has been considering – for months – whether to seek, again, his party's presidential nomination. (He ran and lost in 1988 and 2008.)
For a third Biden bid to have any chance of success – starting from way behind in terms of fund-raising and organization – he would need to be able to step in to fill the centrist gap left by a faltering Hillary Clinton.
But Ms. Clinton didn't falter Tuesday before a Las Vegas audience of party faithful and 15 million Americans who tuned in for the first Democratic debate.
Ms. Clinton's strong performance may have closed the window of opportunity for Mr. Biden.
"Clinton's good night reduced the rationale for Biden's candidacy" said David Axelrod, a political strategist best known for running President Barack Obama's campaigns. The call for Mr. Biden "to save the party from a weak front-runner will be more muted," Mr. Axelrod added. "He is running third in the polls, and nothing that happened in Tuesday's debate likely closed that gap."
Ms. Clinton's campaign manager essentially told Mr. Biden it was time to stop dithering.
"If Vice-President Biden wants to enter and compete for the presidency then it is time for him to make that decision," said John Podesta.
Calm and composed, Ms. Clinton seemingly won the first Democratic Party debate if only because she avoided any major gaffes and gave her adversaries no chance to derail her front-runner status.
The former first lady, seeking a return to the White House but this this time as president, even got some unexpected help from her leading opponent, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders who let her off lightly concerning ongoing probes into her use of the private e-mail server – kept in the basement of the Clinton mansion – while she was secretary of state.
"Let me say something that may not be great politics, but I think the secretary is right," he said. "The American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn e-mails. Let's talk about the real issues facing America."
Not all Americans, and certainly not most Republicans, are willing to let Ms. Clinton off so easily.
"Clinton's record of hypocrisy and flip-flops on everything from Wall Street, trade, immigration and foreign policy was on full display," said Reince Priebus, who heads the Republican National Committee. "Her unwillingness to fully explain the circumstances surrounding her secret e-mail server, and the ongoing FBI investigation into it, further damages her credibility."
Even in Las Vegas, it wasn't all easy going for Ms. Clinton, who scrapped at times with Mr. Sanders while mostly ignoring the other three Democratic presidential hopefuls – former Maryland governor Martin O'Malley; former Virginia senator Jim Webb; and former Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee, a Republican turned Independent turned Democrat.
All three are polling less than 1 per cent and desperately needed the national stage provided by the televised debate to kick-start their campaigns.
Mr. O'Malley delivered the best zinger of the evening, calling Donald Trump, the bombastic billionaire property magnate who continues to lead a crowded Republican field, a "carnival barker."
And he also went after Ms. Clinton, accusing her of shifting her positions on the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact and the controversial Keystone XL pipeline that would carry Canadian oil-sands crude across the American heartland.
Ms. Clinton had ready answers, even as she played a little fast and loose with the facts.
"I never took a position on Keystone until I took a position on Keystone," she said, ignoring the fact she said she was "inclined to approve" it when she was secretary of state. Similarly, on the TPP, she had said it "sets the gold standard in trade agreements" while in office. During the debate, that line morphed into "I did say I hoped it would be the gold standard."