[tomder55]

Trump has been calling for debates since March . Clueless Joe did not respond until yesterday .There is only one reason for this shift .His campaign is risking him leaving the safety of the basement because he is desperate to change the narrative . He masked it with bravado .

(1) Joe Biden on X: "Donald Trump lost two debates to me in 2020. Since then, he hasn’t shown up for a debate. Now he’s acting like he wants to debate me again. Well, make my day, pal. https://t.co/AkPmvs2q4u" / X (twitter.com)



Poll after poll shows that he is losing in key swing states The compliant press is having a hard time defending his record and may be ready to throw him under the bus.

Trump still has a 'never Trump' problem in the GOP . Tuesday's primaries showed there is still a significant part of the GOP that is willing to jump ship or be no shows in November .(Nikki got 31% in Maryland ;18% in Nebraska ;9.5% in WV) . Maybe had he participated in the GOP debates he could've put any GOP opposition away.

Both Trump and Joe want the exclude the 3rd party candidates in any debate they participate in .So they are going to skip the Commission on Presidential Debates format . They both realize that the Commission's format doesn't work ;especially given the reality that early voting is here to stay. The Commission's debates were scheduled in the Fall ;long after early voting begins and people have made up their mind .
The Commission has done a poor job in controlling the debaters ;the partisan audience in attendance, and the moderators and both candidates know it.


I'm surprised Trump proposed a CNN and ABC moderated debate and shocked he would agree to allowing them the authority to cut off his mike.

It is not clear yet what the rules are so I don't know how that will work . Joe's camp believe that Trump's uncontrollable and that comes will come out clear in debates to their advantage .

Trump believes that Clueless Joe cannot stay on script and will likely make a major error . They may give Joe that special juice that keeps him awake past bed time; but he also appears as if he has been dipping into Hunter's stash when that happens .

Trump wants more debates than 2 ;and to have at least one in a large gathering . That works to his strengths and Joe will likely decline that .

My preference would be to have a series of debates in the Lincoln-Douglas format .
(A single topic is debated One debater argues the affirmative side and one debater argues the negative side.)
But I fear Americans in the 21st century do not have the attention span and would quickly lose interest .

[tomder55]

CNN is now backtracking about Kennedy. They claim that if he meets a criteria of a 15% showing in national polls that he is in. Both Trump and Joe's campaign insist that CNN had already agreed to the 1 on 1 format .

“President Biden made his terms clear for two one-on-one debates, and Donald Trump accepted those terms,” campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a statement. “No more games. No more chaos, no more debate about debates.”

A Trump campaign official said a CNN producer had given assurances in a call Wednesday morning that “RFK will not be on the stage,” after describing the criteria for the event.

Biden and Trump agree to CNN debate in June, ABC faceoff in September - The Washington Post

[jlisenbe]

I would think that Kennedy has no chance of hitting 15%. If he does, then Biden is even toastier than he appears to be now.

I'm already quite certain that Trump will be a major disappointment. He has no ability to discipline himself and will come across as being his usual unprepared self. In this case, however, Biden will likely come across as the washed-up, senile, dottering old timer that he is, and that will be enough for Trump to appear to have "won".

[tomder55]

Barring delays or appeals ,it appears that one of Joe's talking points will be muted or diluted going into the debate .

By all accounts ;even by Dem compliant press ; the case against Trump in the hush money trial is a bust . It may even end with a dismissal before the defense makes it's case . Now in it's 5th week ;prosecution has not yet stated directly what crime (statutes ) Trump criminally violated .

But on top of that ; a combo of Hunter Biden trials are scheduled to begin in the weeks before the June 27 debate.


The topic of the Biden Crime family came up in the 2020 debates.

At the time Quid said that Hunter did nothing wrong ;made no money from Ukraine and China; that “50 former national intelligence folks” called the laptop and the charge against Hunter Russian disinformation ,and he knew nothing about Hunter's business.........all damn lies !

After the compliant press and social media collaborated in a coverup ,we now know the laptop was real ;Hunter made money from influence peddling in Ukraine ,Russia ,and China ; that Quid collaborated ,often with direct discussions with Hunter's partners and clients ;and that the Biden crime family had a web of shell companies to hide the transactions. That is what the tax evasion charges against Hunter are all about.

This time Trump has the proof of his 2o2o claims about the Biden Crime Family .......if he doesn't do something stupid (that discipline thing )

[tomder55]

OK So starting the beginning of this month Joe has had a grueling public schedule even for a vigorous person. He cam back from embarrising himself and the nation during his D Day performance. He was physically exhausted to the point of a full minute comatose blank stare during the Juneteenth Day event . He now heads off to Italy for a crucial G7 meeting .

When he returns (and maybe goes to the beach ) he will no doubt go to Camp David for debate prep.

How much kickapo joy juice will it take to get him prepped for that ?

Or as KellyAnne opined
I'LL BE BACK!!! on X: "Kellyanne Conway- I wonder what’s going to happen to him (Biden) medically at Camp David for 10 days because we have no hard evidence that Joe Biden can stand anywhere let alone at a podium intimidated by Donald Trump feet away from him for 90 minutes without a teleprompter https://t.co/iz4Pa3zlvf" / X


No wonder why Trump has asked for pre-debate drug tests .

[jlisenbe]

Few things have surprised me more than Biden agreeing to this debate. It seems clear that they know they are losing big and must take even outrageous risks in order to turn this around.

[Wondergirl]

Trump won't debate. (He doesn't know how.)

Yeah, "outrageous risks." The only one would be Trump "debating".

[jlisenbe]

Time will tell, WG. Trump is not a good debater, but considering the fact that Biden will have to go on that stage absent a fully-functional mind, I think Trump will have the advantage. We'll see.

Need some evidence for that? Try this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vpIF65ISZU

Hope you are feeling better. Welcome back!!

[tomder55]

I left off some stops on his way to debate prep. From Italy he is flying to California non-stop to have a campaign appearance with his boss the emperor . Then he is flying to Virginia for another campaign event with Bubba.
From there he will do
debate prep for about a week and a half. Will that be enough time to program his replies and pump him up with enough kickapoo joy juice to function ?

I have heard conflicting reports about if they will sit or stand during the debate . I hope Trump did not agree to sit. Although it is no guarantee that is to Clueless Joe's advantage .

Joe sitting at D Day event



Joe standing at D Day event

[Wondergirl]

Time will tell, WG. Trump is not a good debater, but considering the fact that Biden will have to go on that stage absent a fully-functional mind, I think Trump will have the advantage. We'll see.

And Trump has a fully-functioning mind??? Haven't you watched him fumble and stumble and meander but in a loud voice so he sounds sooooooo assertive like a dictator. E.g., Trump, June 5:

"Religion is such a great thing, it keeps you, y’know, there’s something to be good about. You want to be good,” Trump said. “When you have something like that, you want to be good. You want to go to heaven, OK? You want to go to heaven. If you don’t have heaven, you almost say, ‘What’s the reason? Why do I have to be good? Let’s not be good, what difference does it make.’”

Plus, now he's waffling on abortion. Maybe he has realized (or more likely has been told -- since he's not good at objectivity) that he's losing Repub women's votes because of his stand on abortion.

Thanks for missing me, JL! Every week I have new medical adventures. I won't bore you with details.

[tomder55]

Plus, now he's waffling on abortion. Maybe he has realized (or more likely has been told -- since he's not good at objectivity) that he's losing Repub women's votes because of his stand on abortion.

Yes of course that is why . From a political perspective I agree that strict pro-life is a losing position. The mid-term elections should've made that clear .

And that is not all. He is making a full court press for the youth vote. . Clueless Joe has not delivered on his promise to them . So Trump sees opportunity . It is why as an example that he went from a ban on TikTok to being a TikTok user . He has suddenly embraced cryptocurrency because the kids like to use it . He recently proposed changing the tax structure to eliminate taxing income from tips .

It seems to be working for him .

Quinnipiac U poll has Trump up with youth age 18-34

5/22/24 - 2024 Race: Biden-Trump Matchup Margin Razor Thin With Nearly 1 In 5 Voters Likely To Change Their Minds, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; More Than 7 In 10 Voters Plan To Watch June Debate | Quinnipiac University Poll

The Slimes Siena poll has Joe up by 2 in that age group. 2020 Joe beat Trump hands down with the youth vote.

Cross-Tabs: April 2024 Times/Siena Poll of the Likely Electorate - The New York Times (nytimes.com)


Will Joe be able to point out Trump's cynical flip flopping ? Will he be able to defend the fact that he has not delivered for them in any way ?

[jlisenbe]

"Religion is such a great thing, it keeps you, y’know, there’s something to be good about. You want to be good,” Trump said. “When you have something like that, you want to be good. You want to go to heaven, OK? You want to go to heaven. If you don’t have heaven, you almost say, ‘What’s the reason? Why do I have to be good? Let’s not be good, what difference does it make.’”

So he is pro-religion. Is that a problem?

At any rate, trying to suggest that Trump's mental fitness is on the same level of disorder as Biden's is really a losing argument. He is plainly in a far better place the JB.

Plus, now he's waffling on abortion. Maybe he has realized (or more likely has been told -- since he's not good at objectivity) that he's losing Repub women's votes because of his stand on abortion.

Correct. It's a sad day when being pro-life is a losing proposition. I guess death is a more popular stance.

Thanks for missing me, JL! Every week I have new medical adventures. I won't bore you with details.

It does seem to come with age. My wife has had a, shall we say, "adventurous" last two years. She's better now, but it can be distressing. Hang in there!!

[Wondergirl]

So he is pro-religion. Is that a problem?

He has no clue as to what is in the Bible! He can't even recite Genesis 1:1! Or doesn't know the difference between the Old and New Testaments! Or know who Jonathan was! Or Paul!

[Wondergirl]

Correct. It's a sad day when being pro-life is a losing proposition. I guess death is a more popular stance.

Promise that you and your grown children will adopt at least six to ten of those unwanted babies that weren't aborted. Set a good example and inspire friends and neighbors to do the same!

[Wondergirl]

At any rate, trying to suggest that Trump's mental fitness is on the same level of disorder as Biden's is really a losing argument. He is plainly in a far better place the JB.

If ony Biden would ramble and shout and utter senseless statements like Trump does...

[tomder55]

These moments occur daily now . At the G7 meeting the leaders watched a parachute demonstration . Clueless Joe suddenly wandered off . Italy PM Giorgia Meloni quickly walked to him and ushered him back to the group to take a photo. He then for some reason put on a pair of aviator glassed .It looked like even that was a struggle.


Video of President Biden Seeming to Wander Off at G7 Goes Viral Sparking Concerns - YouTube

I won't even get into the long term reckless defense agreement he made with Zelensky . I'll comment on my prelude to WWIII posting .

It is dangerous for him to continue as President . I am not sure the nation can afford to wait until January next year to remove him. His cabinet and the Dems need to step up to the plate and do what is necessary .

[tomder55]

Correct. It's a sad day when being pro-life is a losing proposition. I guess death is a more popular stance.

Apparently so . Gallup says there is a clear rise in the number of single issue abortion voters(32% of those polled) .75 % of them are pro-infanticide .

The electoral repercussions of being an avowed “pro-choice” or “pro-life” candidate for higher office have changed since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. Before the decision, pro-life candidates had a marginal advantage in voters prioritizing the issue in their vote choices. Since the decision, pro-choice candidates have jumped way ahead on this metric.

Record Share of U.S. Electorate Is Pro-Choice and Voting on It (gallup.com)

At the Repub powwow yesterday Trump urged GOP to speak in a unified voice that abortion is a state issue

SCOTUS ;in line with it's Dobbs decision , decided yesterday that the availability of the drug mifepristone aka abortion pill ;was a state matter also .It was a unanimous opinion written by Cavanaugh (maybe he was responding to the whirlwind) .
23-235 FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine (06/13/2024) (supremecourt.gov)

Basically SCOTUS is tired of dealing with the issue . Cavanaugh wrote that “federal courts are the wrong forum for addressing the plaintiffs’ concerns about FDA’s actions.”


Abortion became an issue at the G7 meeting also . Meloni (who is the only leader at the group that is polling over 40% sparred with other leaders over words in the final message that called for "safe and legal abortion"

"All the other countries backed them, but it was a red line for Meloni so it is absent from the final text," one diplomat told Reuters.

Italy and France spar over abortion at G7 summit | Reuters

[jlisenbe]

It will all come down to Trump. Four years ago, he had an opportunity to show himself as an accomplished president and businessman while at the same time showing Biden to be a basement-bound hermit with diminished mental skills. He completely failed on both accounts, and instead came across as an unprepared, thoughtless blowhard. I hope he learned from that failure, but I doubt it. We'll see. The great difference is that he can't help himself much in this debate since he is already well ahead in polling. The key now is to let Biden bury himself even further. But leave it to Trump to come out of this debate looking like a temperamental old man while letting Biden look presidential.