Washington Governor Jay Inslee spent Tuesday night inside a hotel room, prepping for perhaps the most important night of his presidential campaign.
Inslee likely needs to make his mark on the same stage once played by Motown's greatest musicians.
"Carrying the Washington story across America is an honor," said Inslee, during a stop at the Islamic Center of Detroit. He led a round table discussion about the state's fight against President Donald Trump's travel ban, a departure from his normally climate-focused campaign stops.
Yet, he and his team also know the stakes here. Inslee qualified for the first two rounds of debates by getting 65,000 individual donors, and scoring at 1% in a series of polls. He has to double that by the end of next month in order to qualify for the next round.
"Not thinking that, we're thinking for the debate, and we're gonna have a good debate, cause we got a great message," he said bluntly on Tuesday.
Inslee said he believes he'll have a chance to talk about his signature issue from the start, as opposed to late in the first round of debates in Miami.
"It was more of a food fight," he acknowledged, while also noting the need for more air time. "I need to be better known across the country. We're only known [to] one of three people across the country. Other people have an advantage, but this is where Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter introduced themselves."
Inslee also believes the format for the CNN sponsored debate will also allow him to focus on other subjects too.
"When other people talk about health care, I'll be able to talk about the best public option in America, when we talk about gun safety, I’ll be able to talk about our laws in Washington," Inslee said.
The governor will share the stage with former Vice President Joe Biden, and top challengers, Senators Kamala Harris and Cory Booker. The two-hour debate will perhaps go a long way toward determining his next move. At this point, less than half of the 20 candidates here have qualified to move on to the next stage.
During Tuesday's debate in Detroit, Inslee tweeted: "An hour in and not one single question about the climate crisis. That makes me mad as hell — and it won’t happen tomorrow, I guarantee it."