Trump-Biden debate: two old boxers seek to knock down opponent

Just over a month to go and the atmosphere begins to look like a campaign.

Finally, we are on our way to Cleveland, Ohio.

In the car, in addition to conventional items like donuts and refrigerated coffee cups, there is now a hand sanitizer, antiseptic wipes, and a mask. Welcome to the 2020 elections.

And voters are about to see a ritual familiar to every American election in the last 60 years: the first televised debate of the two candidates.

Donald Trump and Joe Biden will face off in a fight without weapons. Two athletes with a total age of 151 years. They both wear gloves, each of them will find a way to beat the opponent, although perhaps neither of them can fly like butterflies, or sting like bees.

Live televised debates rarely change the course of US elections; they often act as a catalyst for established voters’ voting trends. But they also sometimes, very rarely, cause disturbances.

In the first television debate in 1960, John F Kennedy was undervalued in front of a wiser and more experienced Richard Nixon. John F Kennedy also had to overcome many anti-Catholic prejudices. But on television, Kennedy seemed charming and unfazed; while Nixon was sweaty and confused. That debate turned the tide and Kenedy ultimately won the most untamed election.

So what can we expect tomorrow night in Cleveland? A change of course or a confirmation of what we already know?

It can be argued that Joe Biden’s task has gotten a bit easier, because the Trump campaign has put him too low. They said that the former vice president was not in good health, that he was a bit old and weak, that he could not speak fluently, such as “the lights were on, but no one was home.”

Certainly speaking Biden sounded out of tune at times. As a child, he also struggled with stuttering, which affected his eloquence. But the Donald Trump shot can also get lost in rambling, off-topic clauses and muffled syntax. By asking Biden to take a blood test to make sure he’s not taking the performance-enhancing drugs from Trump’s 2020 election team, Joe’s 2020 team won’t bother him.

There will be an element of debate that the French call “a speech of chuads”: the conversation of the deaf. In other words, the two parties will not listen to each other.

Donald Trump will want to focus on his economic achievements before the pandemic, he will want to attack the Biden family and, in particular, wonder what Hunter Biden, Biden’s son, has been like. invited to the board of directors of a Ukrainian energy company when Joe Biden was vice president (we know from the debated concerts that Donald Trump would attack with all his fire).

Biden, on the other hand, will want to focus on the president’s handling of the pandemic, and certainly on the gap between what Donald Trump said to journalist Bob Woodward and what he said to the American people.

What about the turmoil that has engulfed America since the assassinations of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor?

If the past can give us a little speculation about the future, the president will focus on law and order, risky suburbs, fires, and mob looting. Biden will speak about racial injustice, about the need to heal the country. Each person will have their own reality. Each person will be in a parallel universe.

The responsibility for forcing the two candidates to contradict each other’s views rests with debate moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News.

Chris Wallace is a formidable coordinator – canny, knowledgeable, and will cut through the candidates’ pre-rehearsed statements, forcing them to go straight to the topic under discussion.

A list of topics has been published. But for the last 24 hours, there is a new topic, and perhaps it could become a central topic, that of the taxes of Donald Trump, who only paid $ 750 in income taxes during his first year in office in the House. White , who has a personal debt of more than $ 400 million (but who owed whom?); It was claimed that $ 70,000 was paid per hair salon before appearing on television. Expensive haircuts.

Hillary Clinton cornered Trump on the issue four years ago, attacking him for paying little or no federal tax, but “it makes me smart,” the billionaire mogul responded. Her followers appreciated that response. But at the time, Trump was an ordinary businessman; Are you president now and still pay only $ 750 in taxes a year? That might resonate a bit more in the meantime.

This may seem counterintuitive, but although Biden has been involved in politics for decades, to some extent, he remains a mystery in this debate. Earlier this year, in the primaries before Covid-19, I was a mediocre candidate, that is, I say this politely.

After the lockdown, Biden repaired his winery in Wilmington and hasn’t come out much since. On the other hand, Donald Trump is omnipresent with his daily campaign, speeches, press conferences, constantly standing in front of the camera.

But, in a way, this is the choice of the American people, between Donald Trump, an aggressive and noisy man; and Joe Biden, a calmer, calmer, nicer old man.