Oh, please, oh please
Should Donald Trump actually show up for the scheduled June 27 presidential debate, he may find the rules irritatingly confining. There will be no opening statements. Both Trump and Joe Biden wil have two minutes to answer questions before moderators cut their mics. Red lights will flash when they have five seconds left.
Trump will have little time to ramble on about windmills, electric boats and baby sharks doo doo doo doo doo doo. Commercial breaks will give both men a breather, the New York Times reports, but they will be prohibited from huddling with advisers.
Not that Trump would, although he proved (when under threat of a contempt charge in a New York court) that his attorneys could contain him, barely. But Judge Juan Merchan will not be moderating for CNN:
The two men are readying themselves for the debate in ways almost as different as their approaches to the presidency itself. The Biden operation is blocking off much of the final week before the debate, after he returns from Europe and a California fund-raising swing, for structured preparations. Mr. Trump has long preferred looser conversations, batting around themes, ideas and one-liners more informally among advisers. He held one session at the Republican National Committee headquarters this past week.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden plainly do not like each other. The former president calls the current president the worst in American history. The current president calls his predecessor a wannabe dictator who threatens democracy itself. Four years ago, in their first encounter, Mr. Trump trampled over his rival’s talking time — the former president has since admitted privately that he was too aggressive — with Mr. Biden scolding him, “Will you shut up, man?”
The rules circulated by CNN warn that this time, “moderators will use all tools at their disposal to enforce timing and ensure a civilized discussion.”
It remains to be seen whether Jake Tapper and Dana Bash will.
One former adviser to Trump said the new restrictions may put the former president at a disadvantage.
With the Times report noting, “For his part, Mr. Trump has never consented to anything resembling traditional, rigorous debate preparation, and this election appears no exception. He has often said that he is at his best when improvising,” former 2020 Trump campaign adviser Marc Lotter admitted, “He views his rallies as debate prep. If they’re literally going to cut your mic, you’ve got to hit your marks.”
Practice is for losers
As the self-declared smartest person in any room, Trump hates being “handled.” Plus, he’s lazy and resists “traditional, rigorous debate preparation.” Which reminds me of a Scrutiny Hooligans post from 2010 regarding the 1978 “Great Pool Shootout” hosted by ABC’s Wide World of Sports. The contest was a
live tournament between fifteen-time world straight pool champion, Willie Mosconi, and well-known pool hustler, Minnesota Fats. A relentless self-promoter, Limbaugh-like with a touch of W.C. Fields, Fats was asked beforehand if he practiced much. The hustler replied with characteristic bombast, “Practice is for suckers.” Mosconi won the contest in three straight sets.
You’ll notice the resemblance, and I don’t mean somatotype.
I waited eight years for George W. Bush to lose his cool and melt down on camera. Never happened. But a boy can dream.
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