As I’m writing this, everyone is in Dallas for our second debate. I keep seeing pictures of my colleagues having beers and briskets. Maybe Olly Wiseman and I will go out for brisket later, why not. With the bosses looking away, I’ll promote my book again. I’ve been told by everyone who reads it that I come off “kind of weird.”
→ There might not be presidential debates this year: President Biden is indicating that he will not debate former president Trump. Apparently the plan is to refuse the presidential debates entirely. The TV networks are banding together to beg him to change his mind, according to several reports. The White House argument is something along the lines of: it debases the president to get onstage with such a buffoon. The obvious subtext here is that Biden is an old man, and his verbal stumbles are a major risk, so why put him out there like that? Biden largely refuses to engage with the press anyway, so why put him onstage with Trump, who has reached previously unknown levels of spray tan, is looking alarmingly svelte, and is also a very old man but comes off as slightly more robust. Now, you might think: America’s reporters are going to be mad about that. We need public debate! These are the foundational values of our democracy, is what I bet reporters are saying. Strangely enough, that is not the argument. America’s media reporters are. . . pro–Biden staying in hiding. Pro-no more presidential debates. Here is CNN’s senior media reporter Oliver Darcy:
Oliver is certainly right. We no longer live in normal times.
In a funny aside, the White House press officers won’t even let reporters hold the mic when they ask a question, which caught the eye of New York Times White House reporter Katie Rogers, who wrote: “I’m sorry but what is with this death grip on the microphone by the White House? Let the reporter hold his own mic. . . the leaders can handle it.” But can they?
→ The presidential age-flip: Biden is polling better among older voters, while Trump is polling better among young ones. This is very strange. As Politico puts it, in a story indicating that they can barely believe the polling: “If these changes are real, it would have profound effects on the coalitions both campaigns are building for November.” Just imagine the dining room table discussions: “Mom, you like, totally have TDS. Put America first, Boomer.”
