Thursday’s faceoff between former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden could be a seismic moment.
Side-by-side photos of Donald Trump and Joe Biden at their October 2020 debate in Nashville, Tennessee.
This political junkie knows this event, to be aired on CNN, has the makings of history. History has been a friend to the presidential debates of the past. Richard Nixon was sweaty in 1960; in 1976, Gerald Ford claimed that Communist-led Poland was not under Soviet domination; and Trump loomed and hovered over Hillary Clinton on the stage in 2016. Those moments were American political theater, par excellence.
Some say they expect Trump to punk out. “If I was a gambler — and I am a gambler — I’d take even money that Trump doesn’t show up,” Jim Carville declared last week on MSNBC. Trump must also grapple with his lack of policy chops. That’s never been a problem for his avid supporters, but that deficiency could take on an outsize importance when many voters will be looking for substance. Details have never been Trump’s strong suit, but he will need to command them on the debate stage.
For Biden, this debate is critical. If Trump rattles Biden, he may falter. Watch for stammering, verbal slips or brain freezes, a la Mitch McConnell. If Biden does not show up strong, he may not make it past the Democratic convention.Biden is not going to win any awards for fancy footwork at the lectern. But he will need to be steady-as-he-goes Joe. Be feisty, be aggressive and duck Trump’s haymakers.
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