Hillary Clinton and her rivals all want the same thing tonight at the Democratic debate

LAS VEGAS – All the Democrats — including Hillary Clinton — who will be on stage for their first 2016 presidential primary debate Tuesday night say they want to introduce themselves to American voters.

Clinton is a former first lady, senator and secretary of state. She’s also the current frontrunner in the Democratic presidential field. Still, her campaign thinks people aren’t necessarily familiar with the platform she’s running on.

“We think it’s a great opportunity for Hillary because she has laid out a very detailed progressive policy agenda over the course of this campaign,” Clinton campaign spokeswoman Christina Reynolds told Yahoo News on Tuesday afternoon. “She’s laid out her vision for America, she’s talked about what she believes is the fundamental challenge facing the next president and what are the challenges that … keep families up at night. She’s talked about what she would do to solve them. Now, if you’re not a voter in one of the early states, you may have missed some of that.”

Reynolds went on to explain how people may have “missed” the Clinton agenda.

“You may not have been paying attention yet or, you know, the news has been caught up in political clutter,” Reynolds said. “So this is really an opportunity for millions of people to hear for the first time who she’s going to fight for and what she’s going to do as president.”

Since Clinton launched her campaign in April, her team has sought to brand her as a “champion for everyday Americans,” specifically families. In the intervening months, the headlines have been dominated by stories about the questions relating to Clinton’s use of a private email server while she led the State Department and other campaign intrigue. Reynolds suggested the debate will be a chance for Clinton to have a more policy-focused discussion, including highlighting her past record.

“I think this will be an opportunity to remind people that she has spent her career fighting for children and families,” Reynolds said.

Hillary Clinton arrives at a labor rally in Las Vegas on Monday. (Photo: John Locher/AP)

Given Clinton’s high profile, her campaign’s claim they want to familiarize people with her more at the debate might seem surprising. However, it’s obvious her lesser-known rivals need to make an introduction if they hope to catch up to her in the polls.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is Clinton’s top opponent. He has surged in state and national polling, and even managed to edge past Clinton in New Hampshire, but his press secretary, Symone Sanders (no relation), told Yahoo News that “his name ID is still a little low in a lot of communities.”

“We are looking forward to the debate tonight. It is an opportunity for the senator to introduce himself to the American people,” Symone said, adding, “Tonight, this is a chance for the senator to go out on that stage and be Bernie Sanders and let America know who Bernie Sanders is and what he stands for. And we believe that, once America gets to know Bernie Sanders, they’re going to love him and they’re going to want to vote for him.”

Former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb and two ex-governors, Maryland’s Martin O’Malley and Rhode Island’s Lincoln Chafee, are bringing up the rear in the polls — far behind Clinton and Sanders. They all clearly need to introduce themselves to voters too. The Webb and Chafee campaigns did not respond to requests for comment from Yahoo ahead of the debate, but O’Malley press secretary Haley Morris confirmed the former executive’s team wants people to “get to know the governor.”

“It will be the introduction where he can introduce his record of getting progressive results in Maryland and also make his case for his … bold and progressive vision of the progressive goals that he’s set for the country,” Morris said, adding, “When you go through the priorities for the Democratic Party, whether that’s raising the minimum wage, or tackling climate change, or, you know, taking action to fix our inhumane immigration system, these are all examples where the governor can say, ‘I don’t just hold these progressive principles, but I know what it takes as a leader, as someone with 15 years of executive experience, I know what it takes to forge consensus and get that done.”

Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Public Policy Conference in Washington earlier this month. (Photo: Jose Luis Magana/AP)

Morris said O’Malley has been laying “groundwork” in the early states and, now that he’s getting in front of a national audience, “the fight is just getting started.”

Still, for now, the spotlight is clearly on Clinton and Sanders. As they both hope to introduce themselves and their platforms, one of the major questions is whether Sanders, who has thus far refrained from attacking Clinton, will go on the offensive. His press secretary, Symone Sanders, said that, like Clinton, he wants to focus on policy.

“You’re not going to see much of a change because, you know, we’re going to give you quintessential Bernie Sanders,” Symone said. “Bernie has never ran a negative attack ad in his life, and we’re not going to start tonight on the debate stage. What we are going to do is we’re going to differentiate on the issues so Bernie can tell the American people where he stands.”

Symone said she expects Sanders to focus on what has long been his main theme — the fight against income inequality — as well as climate change.

“Bernie is speaking to the life-and-death issues that everyday Americans are dealing with,” said Symone. “These are the conversations that people are having at their dinner tables, the things that folks are talking about with their friends. These are the issues that, quote unquote, keep them up at night.”

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks during a news conference on better wages for workers, on Capitol Hill last week. (Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)