The President and the convicted-felon XPOTUS will perform for the voting public this evening in what CNN optimistically calls a "debate." One of them currently managing the Federal government competently and without drama as an impressive cap to his 50 years in public service, while the other is a convicted fraudster who has raped, stolen, and lied his way through 50 years of narcissistic fury. But sure, let's have them discuss matters of national concern.
Hillary Clinton, who has actually debated both men before, knows "it is nearly impossible to focus on substance when Mr. Trump is involved:"
It is a waste of time to try to refute Mr. Trump’s arguments like in a normal debate. It’s nearly impossible to identify what his arguments even are. He starts with nonsense and then digresses into blather. This has gotten only worse in the years since we debated.
Mr. Trump may rant and rave in part because he wants to avoid giving straight answers about his unpopular positions, like restrictions on abortion, giving tax breaks to billionaires and selling out our planet to big oil companies in return for campaign donations. He interrupts and bullies — he even stalked me around the stage at one point — because he wants to appear dominant and throw his opponent off balance.
Josh Marshall thinks "we actually know going in mostly what will happen:"
We’ve seen Joe Biden in presidential debates, even with Donald Trump. We’ve seen him in successive State of the Unions, as recently as three months ago. He doesn’t knock your socks off but he’s basically fine. And it amounts to a bit more than fine given the ridiculously low expectations Republicans have themselves largely created.
We know Donald Trump. He’ll be a freak: lying, interrupting, making up wild claims or dares he’ll mostly not get called on.
[M]uch of this debate will be a battle of Trump with himself. He’ll be a swaggering predatory freak. Most people don’t see that a lot, especially people who don’t follow politics very closely and whose votes will be the deciding factor in the election. So, do his antics remind people of what a freak he is? Or does he manage to use his disruptive powers to create some shiny object or embarrassing moment that somehow helps him or hurts Biden despite acting like a predatory freak?
Alex Shephard concurs:
Trump does whatever Trump wants to do—he doesn’t change. He doesn’t calibrate. He will be vile and extreme and racist. He is incompetent and chaotic and weird. He will remind voters, again and again, of the many qualities they dislike about him.
It’s clear that the people around Trump are more disciplined than they have been in previous campaigns. But Trump is not only still Trump, he’s arguably much worse.
Joe Biden may perform well, and he might not. He will likely be, as he has been for much of his presidency, somewhere in the middle. But Donald Trump will show up to the debate and do Donald Trump things. His performance in the debate will be many voters’ first major reminder of what his presidency was like. That may very well be enough for Biden, even if he cannot answer questions about his age.
I will watch, and only owing to me needing the coronavirus in my nose to die as quickly as possible will I not play any drinking games with my friends. (Plus, a drinking game with this match-up could kill a healthy adult.)
And I have to say, about President Biden's age, it doesn't really matter. If somehow the convicted-felon XPOTUS gets back into office and sees out the entire term, then he'll be just as old as Biden, but with a lot more dementia and a lot fewer IQ points.
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