THE Democratic candidates hoping to be their party’s presidential nominee take part in their first televised debate in Las Vegas this evening. Nevada was hit hard by the bust in the housing market during the credit crunch of 2008; the state’s unemployment rate, at 6.8%, is one of the highest in America. So expect lots of questions about the economy. Nevada is important to the Democrats: it will hold the party's third nominating contest (through caucuses rather than a primary election), after Iowa and New Hampshire, and is the first test of the candidates’ strength in the West. In 2008 Hillary Clinton beat Barack Obama here by almost six percentage points.

Hillary versus Hillary: The 2008-2016 horse race At this stage of the 2008 race Mrs Clinton was still the front-runner, though Mr Obama was starting to close the gap and was polling well in Iowa. This time around Mrs Clinton is out in front again nationally, though months of negative news about her use of private e-mail while serving as secretary of state have dented her ratings. She currently lies second, behind Bernie Sanders, a socialist senator from Vermont, in polling for the New Hampshire primary. What is still not known is whether Joe Biden, Mr Obama’s vice-president, will enter the fray, though currently that looks unlikely.

Two decades of Hillary Clinton

The debate gives Mrs Clinton an opportunity to switch the conversation to substantive policy issues. The other candidates taking part—Martin O’Malley, Lincoln Chafee and Jim Webb—are so far-behind in the polls that even a good debate performance is unlikely to make a great difference. The Democrats’ talkathon will be less boisterous than the two held by the Republicans, which have been dominated by Donald Trump. This is exactly what Democrats want. As one party spokesman put it, “there are no children running on our side”.