9. It’s okay to show a little weakness. I think this is the hardest thing for you to do. But most voters would be completely sympathetic if, for example, you said, regarding an issue like fracking: “You know what? We know a lot more about fracking today than when I first opposed it. We know that we can extract gas safely. That it’s cleaner than oil. That it provides much-needed energy and gives the United States a strong export and a global competitive advantage. I’m not changing my mind because of political convenience, but because I’m open to new information and developments. Helpworry!”
10. At some point, Trump was accused of intentionally ruining the debate. This guy has criticized ABC, the TV channel that will air the debate, and discredit by Disney Entertainment co-chairman Dana Walden, overseer of assets including ABC and her husband, producer Matt Walden (Both are friends of Harris and her husband is an entertainment lawyer, Doug Emhoff), claiming in his latest Trump-is-a-martyr conspiracy theory that the pair, whom he did not name, would ask questions of Harris’s team first. It’s a trick from Trump’s (and his lawyer Roy Cohn’s) well-worn playbook that he has shamelessly used in the courtroom and in his objections to the results of the most recent election: to sow a sense of doubt about both the final outcome and the nature of the proceedings. The implication? That the debate will somehow be “rigged” against him.
Criticizing a network and an executive who oversees it is demeaning; it is intentionally demeaning—and it reeks of loser sweat, of a candidate and a campaign who are afraid of their own darkness and deliberately trying to set low expectations for their audience. You should call him out on it. You might even want to quote the Army lawyer who, during the divisive Red Scare hearings of the 1950s, turned the tables on Senator Joseph McCarthy when he censure the legislator before a national audience and asked, “Have you no sense of decency?” That one statement, in effect, contributed to the senator’s swift public downfall.
In short: There are three moments in a presidential campaign that can predictably influence public perception among undecided voters—your announcement, your convention speech, and the debates. You’ve done a great job with the first two, but the third may be the most important, which is why I think it’s smart for you to be locked in on debate prep right now. My former colleague Matthew Dowd, A very smart political strategist theorized that one debate is equivalent to about 20 days of campaigning. That’s huge when the contest is only two months away.
This debate is as important to your destiny as the last one is for Biden. You are on a big stage with hot lights facing the most annoying, whining, two-faced, and frankly vicious American presidential candidate in recent memory. We know him. We know what he will do. People are watching. Friend. We want to see how you hold up. We want to see what you have. For many who will vote, your image is still vague, unconsolidated. And the Trump campaign has only one strategy left: to eliminate you before you can establish your own narrative.
Forty-four years ago, an unpopular and ill-defined candidate took advantage of a debate with a very clearly defined and unpopular incumbent president. And that was the moment Ronald Reagan turned the other cheek and crushed President Jimmy Carter. Obviously this time is very different, but there are some similarities. Voters don’t really know you yet. But they can come Tuesday.
This is your chance. You carry a huge burden of hope for those who want real change, for those who have fought for Hillary Clinton, For those who see you and Walz as the new alternatives, for those who have been in the trenches against Trump since he first came down the escalator.
You did it. You’re ready. It’s your time.
