The shitshows are starting early this year
The Biden-Trump debate will be a disaster, right?
President Biden and Donald Trump have agreed to a June 27 debate on CNN and I’m going to be honest here: I think it’s going to be a disaster in one form or another.
Why? Because I have a memory that goes back at least four years.
We remember the first debate of the 2020 presidential cycle, right? The one where Trump showed up with COVID? The one where he tried to bully and dominate the stage in a supposed show of his alpha-male powers? The one that CNN anchor Dana Bash famously called a “shitshow?”
Are we expecting this debate to somehow be better, more edifying, more educational to American voters?
I have my doubts.
It seems to me that Biden has one job in this debate: He has to demonstrate to American voters that despite his age, he is still in command of his faculties and of the presidency and can be depended on not to drool on himself during the next four years. It’s really that simple. Leave any room for doubt, and that might very well be the end of it.
Beyond that, I’m not sure what voters are supposed to get out of this matchup.
Biden and Trump have both been at the forefront of our politics for the last decade or more, and prominent figures for decades before that. We already know who they are. What, really, is left to say — either by them or about them?
You know my thoughts: Trump is a menace to democracy. If he wins — and he might well win — we’ll be on the path to being a much bigger version of Hungary: All the trappings of democracy, but without the danger that GOP power will ever be threatened again.
But that’s true whether there’s a debate or not. And it obscures what I continue to think is the central salient fact of this election.
Which is this: Every voter in November was alive and presumably sentient on Jan. 6, 2021.
We already know the stakes. The rest — including the forthcoming CNN debate — is just commentary.
Notes, etc.
It’s possible you’ve noticed this newsletter popping up in your inbox more frequently this week. I’m experimenting with shorter, bloggier posts. (I miss blogs.) Why? I’m not sure. I’ve got paid work to do, but I still find this satisfying. The tradeoff for me is that while I’m more consistent about output, a few of you are less inclined to open up when I’m posting this often. Not sure whether or how I’ll proceed, but I wanted to experiment with the format this week. Let me know what you think.
Biden has to show up and show that he is not the doddering fool that the Republicans try and present him as. He can’t fail at that. But what about Trump? I don’t think the inflammatory mayhem and intimidation that works at his rallies works nearly as well when he’s on a debate stage, especially if the moderator is on the ball. He can probably deliver 2-minute non-answers to most questions, as is common with all politicians, but if he goes full grievance on any topic, it may not look good to any undecideds that are watching.
"I have a memory that goes back at least four years."
well there's your first mistake