Should Biden agree to debate Trump?

[gristy]

Before you vote, take a look at Friedman's article and the comments to the article for lots of perspectives on this. And please rec for visibility.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/07/opinion/biden-trump-debate.html

22 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	No, absolutely not under any circumstances
	4 (18%)
	Yes, with Friedman's 2 conditions
	3 (14%)
	Yes, with some conditions
	1 (5%)
	Yes, with no conditions
	14 (64%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[BigmanPigman]

1. He is an actor and a liar and too much of the public is too stupid

to see that. I said NO before and after reading the article.

[dutch777]

4. I agree on your points about Trump the general public but...

...I like the idea of using the taxes and fact checking issues to poke at Trump to keep those issues live in a way that Trump and the RNC need to engage on.

[BigmanPigman]

12. Hillary brought all that up and it did no good.

She brought up his taxes, Putin, etc. Too much of the overall public is still too easily conned by him. I do not want to give him a stage since he knows how to con people from it.

[dawg day]

2. He should agree, because it'll look good when Trump ends up refusing

I don't think he could stand for an hour, much less pay attention enough to "debate"-- not that he actually will debate anyway. He can't listen to a question, he can't respond directly, he can't stick to a time limit...
They'll come up with some furious excuse and pretend that it's rigged or something, and he won't show up or they'll never agree to a site-- and Biden will look better for being willing.

Trump was always a horrible debater-- belligerent, stupid, threatening, blustering, blinkered. But now, he'll be even so much worse. The handlers will find a way to get him out of it.

[myohmy2]

3. absolutely...

...without conditions...

...this is going to be a bare-knuckle campaign...we've all seen it coming, we all knew it would be...

...if our candidate can't go toe-to-toe with trump and best him, then he shouldn't be there...

...we've got to out-trump the trump...

...nothing less will do...

[In It to Win It]

15. Getting the best of Trump... the bar for that is low

but I just think people are too stupid to know whether Trump won or lost.

Trump will suck up all the oxygen, whether it be a good or bad thing for us. I'd rather not give Trump any oxygen at all.

[Rhiannon12866]

21. Me, either.

I watched him "debate" Hillary and I thought that was as creepy as it could get, him skulking around all over the stage when it was her turn to speak. And he's gotten markedly worse since then. I sure couldn't stand to watch him again, it was awful enough the last time.

[Hoyt]

5. Big mistake not to debate. That's expected of Presidential candidates.

Biden will trounce him.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

7. Fat Donnie will NEVER debate...ever.

Just like he will never admit to losing the election, no matter how overwhelming Biden's win. The Electoral College will be rigged, there will be tens of thousands of illegal votes cast. He deserves two more years because of the investigations. And on, and on.

[Music Man]

8. Those are fine points by Friedman, but Biden needs to debate Trump one way or another.

As others above have said, it's the expectation. Besides, the commission on debates has already negotiated and agreed to the terms. This stuff has already been done.

Remember that Joe Biden is a great debater. Some of his early primary performances this time were ho-hum, but his vast track record is excellent. He debated Sarah Palin, which is not bad training at all for a Trump debate. He demolished Paul Ryan in 2012 and was a big reason that campaign got back on track. And his one-on-one debate with Sanders this year was an excellent performance.

[peggysue2]

28. I agree

Biden was a bit rusty at the start of the primary debates but his performances improved over time. As I recall, the Sanders' team thought a one-on-one would knock Biden out. Instead, Biden's debate that night was flawless. He was in complete command of his facts, demonstrated his knowledge and came off looking and sounding absolutely presidential.

I have no fear about a Biden vs Trump debate. In fact, I look forward to it.

[LakeArenal]

9. Joe should decide the parameters.

[GulfCoast66]

10. Of course. The whole dementia thing is the thread trumps campaign is hanging on.

Idiots. Did they not see Joe debate Sanders? Or his recent press conference? And of course Fox News put out the theory he had the question ahead of time even though one of their reporters asked a question!!

Joe is no Obama as an orator. But when it comes to bare knuckle debates he is real good because he knows his shit. I remember when the republicans were sure boy wonder Ryan was going to destroy him and Joe dragged him around the floor.

Beside, trump is not going to debate. He can’t do it. He is just going to keep going more racist for his base. He will find an excuse.

[BannonsLiver]

11. My prediction is still

That we’ll have one debate, Biden will do well, and TrumP won’t, and he’ll find a way to pout his way out of the other two using some manufactured grievance.

The level of tactical buffoonery in the Dump campaign is astonishing. With their sleepy old joe rhetoric they’ve In effect lowered expectations for Biden. We saw the first example of this at Biden’s press conference last week. He showed up, looked and sounded good and got positive reviews. For weeks Trump surrogates had been taking shots at Biden for not doing press conferences. Well he did one, and it went well.

Prior to the first debate Dump will make a lot of noise about Biden’s mental capacity. Then he’ll show up and we’ll see a repeat of the presser.

[mucifer]

13. The guy who said "I'm not a puppet, your a puppet" won the electoral college

I hate people.

[In It to Win It]

14. Absolutely NOT! Trump will take up all the oxygen in the debate and unfortunately people are stupid

and that also opens the door for Biden to make mistakes.

[Bev54]

16. I am confused, He has agreed to debate him

based on existing precedent and rules but if you are asking if he should do any further debates than the original 3 then no but yes on the previously scheduled.

[backscatter712]

17. Friedman's conditions, and then some.

For example, a single-topic/single-point rule to block Gish Gallops, and a ban on ad-hominem attacks. I'd love to see Trump struggle through the debate when he's not allowed to call people names.

[roamer65]

18. Dump isn't gonna debate.

[tirebiter]

19. They've agreed to three debates

First one’s in September. Here’s the schedule:

https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/politics/a32082680/presidential-debates-joe-biden-donald-trump-schedule/

[jrandom421]

20. Heck Yeah!

Especially what he did to Rudy, Palin and Ryan. I think he has it in him to do it again!

[Awsi Dooger]

22. I wish there were some way for Biden to avoid the debates but logically he has to participate

Trump will want to debate 10 times or more. Anyone insisting he will dodge them is out of their mind. Debating is the only logical way Trump can turn this race around, especially since each appearance like that is potential for Biden to come across as old and forgetful.

It is no guarantee that the Biden we saw against Sanders will show up against Trump. Debates hold tons of surprises...like Gore sighing, or Obama sleepwalking through the first debate with Romney, or Ford insisting Eastern Europe was not under Soviet domination.

[Kaleva]

23. Biden has already agreed to debate Trump so the question is moot.

[2naSalit]

24. Why bother?

[Fiendish Thingy]

25. Link is behind paywall- here are my two conditions:

1. No live audience- virtual town hall questions ok

2. The candidates are separated at a safe distance (no roaming stage ala past town halls)

[Dan]

26. And an automatic fact checker - large display in the background.

[Locutusofborg]

27. You don't want to give Trump that talking point...

"Biden is afraid to debate me because he's cognitively deficient."

[Thekaspervote]

29. I voted yes, but I preface that with the sincere belief that dotard will never agree to debate Biden

Not concerned about the outcome. Just wouldn’t want it to be anything but a totally virtual debate. We’ve GOT to keep our guy safe!!