My Prediction
Compassion
The pundits and analysts have all gone out on a limb trying to guess what will happen tomorrow, June 27th, the first presidential candidates’ debate. I will not predict whether Trump will show up or not. That remains to be seen. Anything can happen.
As for winning or losing, while Biden fastidiously prepared for the debate at Camp David, Trump has been trying to deceptively control the outcome, because he knows he cannot win using his debate skills or knowledge.
Earlier in the campaign, Trump tried to misrepresent President Biden as sleepy and slow, thus lowering expectations. But that backfired on him with Biden’s State of the Union address when he came out swinging.
Now as the debate approaches, fearing Biden’s strong performance, Trump has been falsely claiming that Biden should be drug tested for stimulants, suggesting an unfair advantage and therefore not Trump’s fault if he loses.
The reality is that Biden’s performance will be intuitive and compassionate. Biden will be tuned into Trump’s behavior, and he will respond accordingly. If Trump is aggressive and abusive, Biden will have powerful replies, like during the debate on September 29, 2020, when he brilliantly improvised, “Will you shut up man?”
So, for example, if Trump comes out making bombastic false statements about inflation or the economy, Biden will have any number of zingers ready to debunk his lies. Or say Trump brings up immigration, Biden will be armed with receipts on his effective policies. Let’s say that Trump argues that the indictments against him are Biden abusing the system to rig the election - and I hope he does. Biden would have the most amazing retort about how Trump stole the 2016 election, as decided by a jury that found him guilty on 34 counts of election interference.
On the other hand, Biden will be cued into to Trump’s behavior and adjust compassionately for any signs of serious cognitive issues. Say Trump starts insanely claiming the debate is rigged by CNN and that the rules are unfair. Biden could turn to Jake Tapper and Dana Bash and ask them point blank, “Are you trying to rig this debate in my favor?” When they reply, no, Biden would turn back to Trump and say, “See? there’s no reason to be paranoid. No one is trying to cheat, Donald.”
Or say Trump displays more signs of dementia that we’ve been seeing during his latest rallies, and he starts babbling on about bizarre hypotheticals like being killed by electric boats and sharks. Biden could turn to Trump with sincere concern and ask him, “Are you all right, Donald?” He might even tell Trump that he doesn’t need to go through with all this if it’s too difficult and that everyone would understand if he just went home to lie down and get the care he needs.
In any case, Biden has the upper hand and he will play it to perfection.
Brilliantly written, Lorraine! I hope Biden's advisors are as wise as you.
Having Trump, debate skills and knowledge all in the same sentence is a real food pusher isn’t it? I think I’ll just wait for the highlights with Keith Olberman after the dust has settled. I’ve watched real debates ever since Kennedy-Nixon. What passes as a debate with Felon 34/45 is more a bash fest. Personally, I think President Biden will mop the floor with the old twister. Would be just what he deserves.