Debatable

Pres. Joe Biden’s debate strategy is, well, debatable.

For one thing, it’s telling that he’s so eager to debate Donald Trump. That’s usually the strategy of underdogs. They need to strike a blow to their opponents to pull them down while candidates confident of victory have no reason to take the risk. So, the very fact that Biden’s team wants him to debate suggests that their own internal polling is giving them news that is no better than the latest New York Times/Siena poll that shows Biden losing to Trump in virtually every crucial state.

Then there’s relative risk. Over eight years Trump has immunized himself against any inane, insane, sexist or otherwise offensive thing he might say. Whatever he says it’ll be par for the course. He’s lost the ability to shock and with it has gone the ability to have a gaffe. His every sentence is a gaffe fest. What else is new?

On the other hand, Biden has a lot at risk. If he stumbles it will just underline the concerns that the vast majority of Americans have about his age. No matter what happens, even on his best days, Biden just looks and sounds frail while Trump comes off as energetic. I suppose the White House is cheered by his performance at the State of the Union and, in that tightly scripted and controlled atmosphere, he did okay. This won’t be the State of the Union.

And aside from all that, it’s just not likely that anybody will care. The first debate is next month. How many undecided Americans are going to tune into a debate between two of the most unpopular candidates ever at the beginning of summer? Hey, kids! It’s a beautiful summer evening and I know I promised we’d go to the water park. But what do ya say we stay home and watch two very old guys trade insults!

Nothing — not Trump’s trials, not a good economy — moves the needle on this election. I can’t imagine these debates will have any effect at all, unless they have a negative one for Joe Biden.