Last time, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris dominated the debate in Miami.

Wednesday night in Detroit, they just might do it again. But eight other candidates will be gunning for them.

Health care may prove to be the biggest issue in part 2 of the second Democratic presidential debate, as it was in part 1 on Tuesday: Harris, like Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, supports “Medicare for All.” Biden is likely to challenge her on that hotly debated plan. 

Biden, the former vice president, and Harris, the California senator, will be joined on stage by Sens. Michael Bennet (CO), Cory Booker (NJ) and  Kirsten Gillibrand (NY); Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (HI); Gov. Jay Inslee (WA); Mayor Bill de Blasio (New York City); former HUD Secretary Julián Castro; and entrepreneur Andrew Yang.

The debate will be carried live by CNN beginning at 8 P.M. Eastern Time.

Biden remains the overall front-runner among the Democratic hopefuls, but in this volatile political climate he must be sharp and energetic.

“Biden doesn’t want to look weak — or, perhaps worse, old — a picture that could trip him up in the primary or be exploited by Donald Trump in a head-to-head match later on,” says Politico.

Harris caught Biden somewhat off guard in June, when she forcefully went after his record, raising the issue of race, particularly his opposition to busing school children to fight segregation.

“Mr. Biden has since apologized for his warm remembrances of working with segregationists, while Ms. Harris has come under scrutiny for her own position on federally mandated busing — the very issue she criticized Mr. Biden for,” says the New York Times.

“For now, Mr. Biden is the favorite among black voters,” the Times says, while the two African-American candidates, Harris and Booker, “are hoping to chip away at that margin.”

Booker “could get a jolt … if he scores a bona fide ‘moment’ as Harris did in Miami,” Politico says.

“But,” the Times notes, “there is no candidate in the race who seems poised to inherit Mr. Biden’s entire coalition if he collapses.”

Castro, who stood out in the June debate, hopes to build on that foundation, but he faces a bigger challenge this time, with Biden and Harris drawing the spotlight to themselves.

Yang is expected to qualify for September, but he needs somehow to grab more speaking time than the 3 minutes he got in June. (Yang blamed it on his microphone being turned off, but NBC said that was not true.)

Five of those on stage Wednesday night are in danger of not making the cut for the next debate, in September: Bennet, de Blasio, Gabbard, Gillibrand and Inslee. Polls give each of them between zero and 1 percent voter support.