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The US presidential election accelerates this week as Donald Trump and Joe Biden square off in their first televised presidential debate on Tuesday night.
While many may view the contests as entertainment, as both candidates attempt to expose their rivals’ track record and make their opponent nervous, with the coronavirus Having kept Biden out of the spotlight, it’s an opportunity for both men to make some breakthroughs in key states on the battlefield.
Here’s what to expect in the 2020 presidential and vice presidential debates:
When and where are they?
There will be three live television debates pitting incumbent President Trump against Democratic candidate Biden.
The first takes place Tuesday night (early Wednesday morning GMT) at Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. Ohio is traditionally a key state on the battlefield in the race for the White House.
The second debate will take place at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, Florida, on October 15, and the final debate will take place on October 22 at the Curb Event Center, Belmont University, in Nashville, Tennessee.
There will also be a vice presidential debate between Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and incumbent Mike Pence. That will take place on October 7 at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.
What is the format
The first debate will be moderated by Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace. The moderators of the debates are elected by the non-partisan Presidential Debate Commission.
In it, Mr. Wallace has chosen six topics to be covered and each has 15 minutes allotted for discussion. Both candidates have two minutes to initially answer the question, before they can face each other.
However, the commission has said that the issues are subject to change due to recent events, such as the decision not to directly charge police officers for the murder of Breonna Taylor and subsequent protests in the United States, or the death of the Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and plans to fill your seat, could also arise.
Workers prepare for first debate at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland
The second debate has a town hall format.
This means that half of the questions posed to both men will come from unengaged voters in the same room (COVID-19 if restrictions allow), while the other half is influenced by the concerns of voters on social media. It allows for a more unpredictable line of questions and could put both candidates in a bind.
This second debate is moderated by Steve Scully, political editor for the C-SPAN television network and host of its Washington Journal morning show.
The final debate for this election will be moderated by NBC White House correspondent Kristen Welker and will be similar to the first debate. We don’t yet know what issues the candidates will face, they are usually announced a week before the event.
The 2020 vice presidential debate will be moderated by Susan Page, Washington bureau chief for USA Today. Again, we do not yet know the topics to be addressed.
What will emerge?
We know the six topics chosen by Chris Wallace in the first debate on Tuesday night. They are: the Trump and Biden records; The Supreme Court; COVID-19; the economy; race and violence in our cities, and the integrity of the election.
Those are subject to change as mentioned above, but candidates are expected to direct their responses to try and misrepresent their opponent.
In a sense, it’s up to Joe Biden to argue that he belongs in the Oval Office since Donald Trump is a well-known in the spotlight.
Biden will have to dispel any doubts that he is too old to be president (he would be 78 when he enters the White House) and he will have to ignore concerns about his mental abilities and avoid any of the verbal errors that haunted him during the nomination contest. democrat.
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Trump, on the other hand, will attempt to trip his opponent by shaking Biden on stage and belittling his rival at any opportunity, even highlighting concerns about his Mental acuity.
For that reason, we can expect revelations about the tax returns go up, and no doubt Mr. Biden’s son Hunter you will get a mention.
Do they make a difference?
Viewing numbers for presidential debates have been in decline for some time, but they still draw audiences in the millions.
In Ohio, Biden has a 3.3-point lead, 49% compared to 45.7%, according to an average of RealClear Politics polls. Nationally, she has Biden ahead at 7% to 49.8%.
Debates often change polls by a few percentage points either way, and therefore 2020 debates could help those crucial floating voters make up their minds.
A good performance by either candidate could make a difference in some of the battlefield states, and even a small lead in the polls can turn into a majority in the race for the White House, so in the close races have more impact.
However, it is worth remembering that there are strong partisan loyalties in American politics, and for the vast majority of viewers, they may have already made up their minds.
Reaction to Trump and Biden’s performance in the debate could play a bigger role in shaping the election outcome, so keep your eyes on the media and social media in particular.
Has a presidential race been decided for the debates?
The short answer is no, there are too many factors in a choice to say that only one decides the outcome.
However, poor performance can certainly get the ball rolling in a candidate’s favor.
Richard Nixon wipes his forehead during the first televised debate against John F Kennedy
Al Gore sighed and rolled his eyes during his debate against George W Bush.
The first televised debate in 1960 between then-Democratic Senator John F. Kennedy and Acting Vice President Richard Nixon is a case in point.
Kennedy made sure to look fresh for camera close-ups, while Nixon, who was unwell and still recovering from illness, wore an ill-fitting suit and could be seen wiping sweat from the camera. forehead regularly.
As a result, Kennedy saw a jump in the polls after it was widely perceived by 70 million viewers as “won” the debate. He then won a closed election with 49.72% of the votes.
In 2000, Democratic candidate Al Gore’s performance against George Bush, in which he sighed and rolled his eyes at the Republican’s responses, did not win him any favors among voters who viewed his performance as condescending.
That saw him lose ground at the polls and although he won the popular vote, it was George Bush who took the keys to the White House.
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