Clinton and Biden on Stage, No Spin Room Needed Before the Great Showdown of the Presidential Candidates comes the Great Showdown of the Award Presenters. Some 33 months, a gazillion dollars and endless commercials before the Iowa caucuses, the two leading potential, could-be, everyone-thinks-will-be candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016 will appear before the same audience on Tuesday night. But it won't quite be the clash of titans some are anticipating from former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. Instead of touting themselves, their assigned roles will be limited to touting others as they present two of the Vital Voices Global Leadership Awards being bestowed at the Kennedy Center. Mrs. Clinton will be making her first public outing since stepping down from the State Department, not counting her video endorsing same-sex marriage, and many in the all-too-insular world of Washington politics will be watching to see how she presents herself and what she says. Mr. Biden, the decided underdog in the early-early handicapping, will find himself competing for attention in a setting made for Mrs. Clinton. Vital Voices is a nonprofit organization that seeks to identify and help women around the world to play leadership roles, an outgrowth of an initiative established in the 1990s by Mrs. Clinton. Its chairwoman emeritus is Melanne Verveer, Mrs. Clinton's chief of staff when she was first lady and until recently her ambassador for global women's issues. Mrs. Clinton will be offering a special tribute to Ms. Verveer during the program Tuesday night. Mr. Biden will present the group's Solidarity Award to the Kant brothers of India, who founded Shakti Vahini, an organization that advocates for the rights of women and children in India. There will be no balloting at the end of the evening.