This time, moderators for host network CNN have more tools than usual to maintain decorum, with the microphones muted throughout, except for the candidate whose turn it is to speak.
Abortion, democracy
Biden outlined his debate strategy in a recent interview with ABC: “Say what I think. Let him say what he thinks.”
“The things he says are off the wall… I want to move in a direction where he talks about, you know, suspending the constitution,” Biden said.
“All I have to do is hear what he says — remind people what he says and what I believe, and what he believes. He’s about him. I’m about the country.”
Biden is also betting on a show of restraint to project stability in the face of Trump’s drama, and to press his message to voters that the twice-impeached Republican billionaire is a danger to democracy.
The president’s camp pitched a much earlier debate than usual — these blockbuster encounters usually take place in autumn — in hopes that 90 minutes of unfiltered Trump would cement the Republican in voters’ minds as the chaos candidate.
Biden campaign chairwoman Jen O’Malley Dillon said last month the president would go after Trump on abortion rights, threats to democracy and his plans for “tax breaks to billionaires.”
Endurance test
Biden has to convince his doubters on style as much as substance, however, and provide a robust response to attacks from the Trump campaign over his mental acuity.
It’s been a long time since the president — whose stiff gait and sometimes slurred speech betray his age — appeared live, standing up, for 90 minutes.
His supporters are hoping to recapture the energy he managed to summon — and the praise he garnered — for his State of the Union address to Congress in March.
It was an uncharacteristically spirited performance for the octogenarian that clearly caught Trump off guard, prompting the Republican to insinuate without a shred of evidence that Biden might have been boosted by narcotics.
Trump, in fact, has repeatedly predicted ahead of speeches and debate performances that Biden would embarrass himself, a low bar that the president has invariably been able to clear comfortably.
Perhaps having learnt his lesson, Trump was anticipating a strong Biden debate performance as he suggested baselessly to rallygoers in Wisconsin on Tuesday that the president would likely be high on stimulants during the debate.
“He’s going to be so pumped up!” Trump said.
