, Washington correspondent
Ten candidates on stage and a common target or almost: Joe Biden. The former vice president of the United States tried to counter the blows of his Democratic rivals in a debate held Wednesday, July 31 in Detroit.
After a poor performance last June, when the Californian senator Kamala Harris had knocked on the theme of racial segregation, the favorite polls had to turn the corner. "Be nice with me, kid," he whispered to him before the show began.
It was not counting on all the other candidates. From the first minutes, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio attacked him: "Joe Biden told wealthy donors that nothing would really change for them when he was elected president." Patient, the former Delaware senator preferred not to respond immediately. Rather, he recalled one of his campaign slogans, "Restore the soul of the country," and spoke directly to Donald Trump in praising the diversity of the United States.
Bafouilles
Very quickly, however, tackles have rocketed. Wanting to criticize Kamala Harris on his universal health insurance project, too expensive and leading to a tax hike for the middle class according to him, Joe Biden shot himself in the foot. "Your own health plan excludes 10 million Americans, so pay attention to what you say," said the former prosecutor. "The cost of inaction is much higher," she added. "My plan will cover everyone," replied a Joe Biden stammering out of arguments.
While Kamala Harris was her main competitor in June, she was rather erased in this round. She even suffered some attacks from candidates on her past as a prosecutor. Joe Biden could not breathe.
His record alongside Barack Obama has been closely scrutinized. An inheritance which he proudly claims but which has sometimes handicapped him. "You invoke Barack Obama a lot, but you can not do it only when it suits you," said New Jersey senator Cory Booker, fit Wednesday night.
"One of us has learned from the past"
Cory Booker included Joe Biden on the grill about the criminal justice reform. He blamed him for writing a law in 1994 that many now consider to be one of the causes of mass incarceration in the United States. When the 76-year-old candidate tried to answer by denouncing Cory Booker's record as mayor of Newark, he accused him of reciting a pitch prepared by his team without knowing the substance of the case.
Its competitors also reminded the former vice president that under the Obama administration, the number of deportations of migrants was higher than under the current administration. While the exchange was about immigration, Barack Obama's former Secretary of State for Housing Julian Castro blamed Joe Biden for not doing his mea culpa: "It looks like, sir vice -president, that one of us has learned the lessons of the past, and the other not. "
The last salvo of criticism came from two women. Kirsten Gillibrand first. The New York senator blamed Joe Biden for writing a tribune in 1981 about working women, a "deterioration of the family" in his words. Joe Biden defended himself by reaffirming his record on women's rights and accusing Kirsten Gillibrand, who had praised her actions in the past, as opportunistic: "I do not know what has changed except that now you are a presidential candidate, "he quipped.
Not very reassuring
Kamala Harris then took the opportunity to take the torch, this time accusing Joe Biden on the theme of the right to abortion and forcing the latter to recall his pro-choice positions.
Although he has responded better to the attacks than in the previous debate, it is clear that Joe Biden is still an easy target for his competitors. Eluding direct questions, sometimes stammering, the candidate did not reassure completely. "I guarantee you that if you fight against Donald Trump, he will not let you get away with it," Bill de Blasio warned.
It is not sure that the last words of Joe Biden have convinced the most skeptical. After urging him to choose the unit in front of the division, the candidate wanted to emulate his competitors who invited viewers to go for a walk on their campaign site. "Go to Joe30330.com," he said, hesitating ... and perhaps realizing that he had just mistaken the web address and the number to receive text messages.