I still say that we get the game show host from Billy Madison to moderate the debate.
Today I Learned (TIL):
I thought until just now the academic decathlon MC from Billy Madison was some game show host or another that had never reached my ken. In fact, it was longtime SNL writer and comedian Jim Downey.
Downey’s only 71 – I bet he could still pull off moderating the debate!
Yeah, but Thiessen was just reminding all of us how forthright DJT was by contrast. DJT said on Day 1 he would be a dictator. Proves Harris is a weakling.
As Harris preps for the debate, I found this amusing.
I don’t expect any huge zingers or rhetorical flourishes from her. As this article says, that’s not what she knows, for better or for worst.
I’m not expecting huge zingers or rhetorical flourishes because I expect Harris to be the adult in the room. I expect her to act like someone who is qualified to be president and not a third grader looking to be class clown.
I am hoping for one great line, such as the ones I mentioned before.
There’s a tweet being attributed to Trump that says:
All that cutsey crap that people want Harris to do? Trump is doing it-how does it look to you?
It’s real.
My WAG - he half-remembered that old observation about taller candidates winning elections, took it as scientific fact, and has decided the key to winning is to convince everyone that he’s VERY TALL, MUCH TALLER THAN KAMALA, I’M THE TALLEST PERSON EVER, THE LATE GREAT PAUL BUNYAN TOLD ME SIR I’VE NEVER BEEN AS TALL AS YOU.
Heh, but Harris gets to wear high heels. Check!
So does he.
I think he’s finally been convinced to do debate prep, so he got around to having somebody sit with him and tell him the rules.
“Do I get a nice golden throne?”
“No, you’ll have to stand at a lectern. That’s the thing you lean on.”
“What about Comrade Camel La? Does she get a chair?”
“No sir. As I explained when you asked about the Diet Coke button, you and Vice President Harris will each have the same conditions.”
“Well, if I have to stand, can I at least wear my special shoes?”
“Nobody will inspect your shoes, sir, but the rules do say that no arificial lifts are permitted.”
“Ho boy! That’s rich! I’ve got to send out a post about that one. Get me my phone!”
“But sir, we really should be preparing for the debate. It’s next week!”
“Okay, nerd. Ohhh boy, I’ve got the perfect burn for Conquistador Kama-Lala!”
If there really is such a rule, someone damn well should inspect Trump’s shoes.
“What?? Me lie, cheat and steal at every possible opportunity?”
Lehrer had been doing debate moderation, since 1988, for the Commission on Presidential Debates. After 24 years, doing it in every cycle, he got good at it.
But even with the best, most experienced, moderator, Trump would make it an impossible job.
If DJT makes the exact same statement, at the debate, that he previously made about, say, sex reassignment surgery in schools, an ABC moderator could call him on it. But I doubt Donald will make the precise same false statements, at the debate, that he makes at rallies. He’ll probably tone it down a bit. Then it will be difficult to immediately say whether the statement, as worded, is false, given that the wording changed and/or it was put in just-asking-questions mode.
As noted previously, Trump can utter a couple dozen lies at a single debate. If he is called on more than a few, the moderators are at high risk of making a mistake. I doubt they can take that risk.
P.S. This is not to say Harris will lose the debate. I predicted that Biden would win his in post-debate polling, and was wrong, but I’ll again risk being wrong and say that the Democrat will win. I just do not think moderation can help out Harris – she’ll have to do it all herself.
But it’s a question that’s been asked of many other candidates, and everyone knows it’s metaphorical. Be prepared.
Two of those three people lost.
In a single debate? In a single sentence! Run on as it may be.
Mondale did, but Bentsen won his Senate seat that year.
He said that at the Vice-Presidential Debate, which he lost. He pretty much got the Senatorial job as a consolation prize in 1988, mainly because they couldn’t drop him from the ticket. He was always the favorite for that job in 1988…but I think he was also the last Democratic Senator in Texas to date-not something to be proud of.