At first, it looked like the rematch was on.
Sen. Kamala Harris and former Vice President Joe Biden, standing at center stage at the Democratic presidential debate in Detroit, were clearly ready to reprise their prior debate face-off, training their focus on each other as the debate began. But the others on stage weren't ready to cede the evening to the two top candidates.
Instead, both Harris and Biden found themselves playing defense not just against each other, but also against their other rivals: Sen. Michael Bennet, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, former U.S. Housing Secretary Julian Castro, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and entrepreneur Andrew Yang.
It was a vivid illustration of the perils of being a front-runner.
Here are the main takeaways from Wednesday's debate:
