Knick4Real wrote:robillionaire wrote:I keep telling myself I'm not going to watch them. But it's like those Beirut explosion videos. Horrible but you still want to watch out of morbid curiosity. We don't need debates. We know who these people are.
It's a double-edged sword. Biden could slip up and hand Trump some momentum if he goes through with the debates. Or, Trump could build the case that Biden is scared of him if he doesn't go through with the debates. To be honest, I think minds are already made up and the debates won't matter much.
All Biden has to do is hammer Trump three times per debate on why he has not responded to Putin's bounty on American soldiers.
Trump can't answer this.
Reminding the public of this multiple times shines a light on an issue that very much erodes swing voter support. Military veterans are not amused. Rub it in Trump's faces while a family with a veteran sits at the telly and watches is going to take more votes from Trump.
Do it several times and he loses more support. Trump has no comparable ace up his sleeve.
This is not a toss-up.
The odds weigh heavily in Biden's favor that he either holds steady or gains voters from the debates, but
The odds that Trump gains voters is slim while the chances of him losing more votes is greater.
Biden has solid targets to carpet bomb Trump with Putin, the soldiers, the pandemic, the economy, threatening to overturn election results. It's a smorgasord for Biden and he'll be well prepared.
Trump has shown no capacity for targeting Biden in a like manner. He'll call him a socialist and will be busted when he lies about defunding. If he goes after Hunter Biden he'll get hammered back with the impeachment and his own family's grifting.
I see nothing that Trump can say that is going to weaken Biden so yeah the only thing Biden has to lose is saying something eggregious himself. I doubt that will happen. He'll probably come off looking pretty fierce and ready to take down Trump.
What the debates will cement for many swing voters is Biden is actually a president. Being presidential is a thing. It will be the topic after the first debate. Twitter will trend with #PresidentBiden and the pundits will say Biden was presidential. It is fairly inevitable IMO.
Too many people voted for Trump with a shrug and said fukit what have we got to lose. Seeing the contrast between the sweating orange oaf and an actual practicing, experienced legislator will drive home to them what a difference it is. The base will never care, but the base doesn't matter. It is everyone else and many people who have voted Republican in the past have to be sick of this incompetence and madness too. The debates will frame everything in a crystal clear manner for them.
When the standard "Where do you want to be in four years?" question pops up, how can Trump convince anyone on the fence they are going to be more prosperous, safer and healthier with him remaining in charge? He can't and he won't.
