Here’s What Trump Should Do Now to Win the Debates Before They Happen
When Joe Biden released a 14 second video with 5 edits in it declaring how he wants to debate Donald Trump twice, my first thought was how pathetic is it that he can’t get through a few lines without needing multiple takes and heavy editing. My next thought was Trump should take him up on the offer, which he did. Then, I had another thought, a better thought. Something that I believe will help Donald Trump immeasurably.
The Biden campaign wants two debates, one in June and the other in September, both well ahead of the November election, which is odd. They say it’s because of early voting, but there’s more to it than that.
If Biden soils the sheets in a June debate, that gives Democrats plenty of time to find a new nominee before their convention in August. If Biden drops out before being officially nominated there is no need for lawsuits to change ballots, it’s all nice and clean.
As for the September date, there’s still plenty of time to distract voters from a failed performance.
More than that, however, this proposal opens up a big opportunity for the Trump campaign. They’d have to wait until everything is settled and all debate points are agreed upon, if only to make it impossible for Biden to back out without having to go against what his campaign would have said publicly. But once that happens, Trump should challenge Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to a series of debate.
Conventional consultants would advise against that, saying it lowers the Trump brand to debate a third-party candidate, but that wouldn’t happen. Trump is his own brand, and while the idea of lowering a candidate’s prestige would apply to someone normal, he’s not normal. Trump is Trump, and nothing changes that.
It wouldn’t be Trump sinking to third-party level, it would be raising RFK to Trump’s level.
By raising up RFK you highlight how Biden is not only afraid to engage in more debates, but also expose how the two of them old many of the same positions. That would cut into Biden’s support, splitting the Democrat vote. Win-win.
You also show just how far gone Biden’s brain is. Democrats who watch will see a candidate articulating what they support in a way that doesn’t seem like an old guy confused by the buffet at lunch time. Either way, it hurts Biden.
Let’s be honest, if you’re going to vote for Joe Biden you will never be convinced to vote for Donald Trump. Biden is terrible, but his voters do not care. They either are insulated from the consequences of Bidenomics or just hate Donald Trump to the point that nothing is going to make a difference to them.
On the other hand, they might be impressed by Kennedy and persuaded away from Biden to a candidate who shares their views but isn’t senile. And any vote taken away from Biden is a win.
This will, naturally, cause fits in the Biden campaign, which is why you don’t announce it until the terms for debates are agreed upon, making it difficult, if not impossible, to back out of.
Then Trump and Republicans need to relentlessly invite Biden to join in that debate. He can’t – his whole campaign is based on appealing to his left flank, so he can’t be seen with Kennedy, who is genuinely of the left.
No one open to the possibility of voting for Donald Trump is going to be convinced to vote Kennedy by anything RFK would have to say in a debate setting, but it would expose him to a larger audience and hurt Biden. It’s win-win for Trump.
Getting Joe Biden to debate at all is a victory for Trump and Adderall salesmen in Washington, DC. But, at least for Trump, it should just be the start of something bigger. Now that Joe has challenged Trump, and Trump quickly agreed, nail down the details and start hammering him for more.
Republicans have to be careful not to set expectations for Biden too low – if they do, all he’ll have to do is show up and not eat paste to claim to have exceeded them.
Instead, they need to challenge him to do more, once all the T’s are crossed and I’s dotted on the details, elevate Robert Kennedy by setting the first debate with him a week after the first Trump/Biden debate in June, then dare Biden to join them on stage. He won’t, he can’t, but should be forced to refuse publicly.
Then, no matter how Biden does during the debate, the story that emerges is he’s afraid to do more. That’s how you take a win, which getting him to debate is, into a series of wins.
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