We will have at least one presidential debate:
Former president Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have agreed to a Sept. 10 debate on ABC, the network said Thursday.
Yesterday I was telling a friend that after a bunch of hemming and hawing and blustering, Harris and Trump would negotiate a debate as usual. They both want one, so eventually they'd come to terms. I just didn't expect it would only take a day.
Is he bluffing to keep the mill turning until he can find a way he imagines is plausible to get out of it, or does he really think it could him look good?
I go back and forth on this, but I still think he's bluffing, and if he does actually turn up it will be almost a kind of accident.
Harris publicly taunting him had a lot to do with his decision to participate. Whether or not he actually goes through with it is another thing. Going by his performance at the NAJB, it's not going to end well for him. I might actually watch this debate. If just for Trumps antics and to see how badly he screws himself over.
he isn't bluffing, he thinks he's on track to lose so he needs to do something, and he's stupid so he thinks he'll win in debate vs harris.
In Trump's mind, his ego knows he will win the debate. Certainly the last debate against Biden didn't hurt Trump with his base, and certainly the last time he debated a "girl", he came out okay.
Hopefully, this time the Democratic candidate is fully prepared. Trump is going to lie constantly, and fact-checking him doesn't work. Trump is going to put every accusation against him back on the accuser. I think the best strategy might be to ignore Trump and just beat the drums on the accomplishments of the last 4 years.
That is the best strategy. Point out his fire hose of gibberish, then pick one topic out of it you want to talk about and focus on that like a laser for your whole response time. It'll make each subsequent response of his seem increasingly disordered.
no clarification on whether the original rules are still in place
i suspect he'll weasel out unless he gets an audience
He really has very little leverage. Pulling out made him look afraid, and he absolutely can't stand that.
which is why she should continue calling into question whether he shows up or not
he may be planning on declining at the last minute and she shouldn't give up the opportunity to pound him on it for the next month since it's obviously getting under his skin
if i was harris i'd be saying something like:
some people say he won't actually show up for the debate; i dunno, maybe, maybe not
he might decide it's too far past his bedtime or he has a conflict with his diaper changing schedule
someone should really look into that
Forgot to set the timer on his sensory deprivation tank.
more likely lost track of time with his RealDoll
As long as she knows that its not really a debate, but a street fight with a thug. It is possible something resembling the truth will spill out of his orange pie hole, but it will be imbedded in a shit storm of lies and misrepresentations.
When anybody debates Trump the first line out of their mouth after Trump speaks should be "That's a load of utter bullshit" though I guess you have to sanitize it for a family audience. Then you go on to briefly explain why it is bullshit.
I'm reasonably sure Ms. Harris knows how to handle people like him in a public forum 😉
> It is possible something resembling the truth will spill out of his orange pie hole
No it isn't.
😉
I wouldn't be surprised if Trump turns up with an empty chair to symbolize his preferred opponent, his triumph at the last debate and some gag about Biden about to unseat the illegitimate Democratic candidate.
Chart illustrating how many people did not vote in presidential elections,
https://i.redd.it/l98jpflt7ghd1.png
See if you can spot the one election that breaks the trend.
Quibble: we will have at least one more presidential debate.
What was presidential about the first debate?
AP today:
Trump had said he would prefer that Fox News sponsor the debate
what trump actually said:
Former President Donald Trump said Saturday he would not debate Vice President Kamala Harris at all if she did not agree to attend a new Fox News debate next month, the latest in the public jockeying between the campaigns over when, if ever, the two candidates will meet on stage.
“I’ll see her on September 4th or, I won’t see her at all,” the former president wrote Saturday
Long past time to allow Fox any pretense of credibility.
"But don't speak too soon, for the wheels still in spin..." -- Bob Dylan
this is bullshit; there's no actual agreement yet
The debate will probably be held without a live audience, but the exact format and ground rules are still being determined, the people said.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/08/business/media/trump-harris-abc-debate.html
I don’t need a debate to decide for whom I will vote. Do you? There’s no upside. And those who like debates can, as we say here on this blog, “Fuck off!”
In general I agree, but the last debate made it obvious to everybody except Joe Biden that Joe Biden was simply too old to be an effective president in a 2nd term. Maybe a Trump - Harris debate will make it obvious to some undecided voters that Trump is just a blowhard bullshit artist. Or maybe Harris will do her weird laugh once and that will dominate the news cycle for 2 weeks.
Maybe something will finally break the fever. This has been our hope for 8 plus years. The fever is hotter than ever.
He'd have to suffer a spectacular collapse -- literally stroke out on live TV or start screaming the n-word or something. Just rambling nonsensically about how bacon is now illegal or rattling off insane lies one after the other isn't going to move the needle. His base doesn't give a shit and most other voters figure some wackiness is just par for the course with Trump.
Can he remain disciplined? I'm sure he could if he were debating Biden a second time, but being seen and treated as equal to Harris is intolerable for Trump.
The scene of Harris scolding an incorrigible, petulant child will be priceless. I hope she delivers some line like, "Donald, you do you, but I'm talking to the American people about my policies and vision for the future. You can rant incoherently when it's your time."
Once triggered, his unhinged, bizarre responses untethered to reality will burn his chances with persuadable voters and send his poll numbers back to his floor.
See my comment above. Unhinged ranting is his brand. If he just does that and nothing else, it won't matter, regardless of how untethered it is from reality. And the media might comment on it, but of course not without picking some nit with what Harris says because, you know, balance ("While Trump's assertion that over 1 billion migrants have poured over the southern border and are currently draining life fluids from every American child in order to refine it into fentanyl is demonstrably false, Harris also claimed that the unemployment rate under has fallen 3 percentage points since 2021. It's actually only 2.5 points.").
Until the event actually takes place, I will not be holding my breath. t-Rump will find some excuse to slime out of this....
He's gonna show up. People have been predicting since 2016 that Trump is too insecure to appear for a real debate, but he has every time. He's tried to weasel out of this one, but that could also just be a ploy to lower expectations. If Harris "wins", he can just blame the "terribly unfair" ABC hacks hosting the affair and talk about how he should have held his ground and appeared on Fox. So unfair. Treated so very, very unfairly (*wags finger at journalists*)