Will the Trump-Biden showdown be the organization’s last gasp or a new beginning?

Thursday night’s confrontation between Joe Biden and Donald Trump in Atlanta is likely to be the most fateful presidential debate in U.S. history.

For the first time, a sitting president and a former president will meet much earlier than usual and before a party convention and in front of millions of viewers. The showdown, is a defining moment in a close election race and Biden’s best chance to shake off his reelection bid, which he is in danger of losing, as he struggles to convince voters that he will win the 2020 election and deliver on the political and economic normalcy he promised.

The importance of this debate can only be fully understood in the context of the unprecedented politics of the time. Because Sen. John F. Kennedy and Vice President Richard Nixon hosted the first televised debate in 1960, a painfully close election that set the country on a very different course. But with President Trump seeking to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power based on false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election and promising an unprecedented presidency if he wins in November with a personal vendetta, the stakes are higher than ever in 2024.

Could Senator John Kerry have beaten President George W. There would have been significant policy changes had Bush taken office in 2004, or had former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney made Barack Obama a one-term president in 2012. But the character of the republic and its global stance have not fundamentally changed. That promise cannot simply be transferred to this election. President Trump’s drive to be a strongman, epitomized by his assertion in the Supreme Court that the president has almost unlimited powers, and his plans for tough new policies on immigration, the economy and foreign policy, means a second term could be extensive and potentially disruptive. “It’s incredibly historic. You can’t overstate the importance of this,” presidential historian Douglas Wolf Blitzer on Wednesday. Democrats are eager for Biden, 81, to show vigor and sharpness amid concerns about his age. The 78-year-old Trump’s biggest responsibility may be himself and his potential to perform in a way that supports Biden’s warning that he is too “crazy” to be president. Biden is expected to attack Trump over abortion — one of the few policy areas where he is polling better than his predecessor — and his praise of foreign dictators. President Trump has already signaled that he intends to paint a dystopian picture of Biden’s America, plagued by unchecked immigration, rampant crime and severe economic hardship. What’s most unusual about this debate is that it comes less than a month after Trump was convicted in a hush-money trial in New York. Biden has already highlighted the conviction at campaign rallies, while Trump has maintained he was the victim of an attempt to use the legal system as a weapon to interfere in the election.

Both candidates are under extreme pressure

Both men will want to avoid the sort of debate-night gaffes or odd personal quirks that often circulate online, dominating critical post-debate coverage and helping solidify voters’ perceptions of who won and who lost. Vice President Al Gore’s theatrical sigh in 2000 and President George H.W. Bush’s thoughtless watch-watching in 1992 both became symbols of failed campaigns. Now, because of social media, the stakes are much higher.

Presidential debates won’t necessarily determine who wins in November. But tensions are palpable over the fact that the first debate of the year will be held in June instead of the usual September or October.

“The closer the election, the more likely it is that the debates will affect the election,” says Aaron Cole, a debate director at the University of Michigan who has studied every presidential debate in detail. “These mistakes often confirm the caricature of a particular candidate that existed before the election. For Biden, it means a key moment will be missed, and Trump would be wise to avoid any tirades that would further characterize Biden as a tyrant-in-waiting.”

Neither Trump nor Biden have debated since their last meeting during the pandemic-disrupted 2020 campaign. And her preparations for the most important night of her life reflected her personality and her political character.

The president has disappeared for days, huddled with aides under the oaks, poplars and maples of the Camp David resort, pondering how to deal with the most difficult debate opponent in history. Fueled by lasagna and tacos, he participated in mock debates, pored over press binders, and tried to predict Trump’s fiery twists and turns — debates that suited Biden’s view that he was embroiled in an existential race for the soul of the nation.

The former president disliked mock debates, instead honing his preparation at rallies and events, relying on instinct, intuition and a keen sense of his opponents’ political weaknesses. But he also spoke to his advisers and to Sen. J. Vance, D-Ohio, and Sen. J. D. Schumer, D-Fla., and to Sen. J. D. Schumer, D-Fla., about how Biden and Biden were “very close to each other.” Marco Rubio.

Biden has demanded higher stakes for himself than any modern president before the debate. He claims that Trump is something of a “cunning” criminal, too dangerous and too reckless to be allowed back into the White House. He also accused Trump of using Nazi-like language and warned that democracy and freedom, and the ability of “we the people” to shape America’s destiny, are also on the ballot.

Getting Ready for Anything at Camp David

Biden’s debate team is led by former White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain, who has prepared for Democratic presidential debates for generations. One of Crane’s mantras is, “You can always lose a debate, but you can only win the first 30 minutes.”

The Biden team has closely studied President Trump’s recent public interviews and speeches, crafting responses to anything that President Trump and the moderators might present to Biden. The president will be prepared to deal with whatever President Trump presents, whether it’s a bombastic opponent who cajoled and insulted Trump in their first 2020 matchup, or a more modest challenger who seeks stability. If Trump seeks the presidency, Biden will have a stockpile of rehearsed attacks and rebuttals to launch tirades that will repel voters.

that debate preparations also included preparations for how to respond if President Trump went personal, weeks after he was convicted of serious weapons offenses. Biden’s love and protectiveness for his family has always been close to the surface, and he was infuriated when the then-president mentioned Hunter during the first 2020 debate.

Biden conducted the exercise in a large hangar at his Maryland mansion, which includes a mock debate stage illuminated by bright TV lights. His personal lawyer, Bob Bauer, played Trump.

exercise wasn’t just about feeling comfortable. It was also about answering age questions. The president’s aides and allies have frequently pointed to his State of the Union address in March as Biden’s best example. They argued that he was energetic, focused and agile during the 67-minute primetime speech.

Trump’s debate preparation is as unconventional as he is

Incumbent presidents, not used to having someone interrupt them and argue, often get a rude awakening at their first presidential debate. But Trump’s refusal to debate his Republican rivals in this year’s primaries could put his advantage in this regard in jeopardy. Still, his aggressive debating style is not all that different from the argumentative, prickly demeanor he displays at most public events.

President Trump primed the debate by suggesting Biden would be “high” on drugs, while his advisers desperately tried to shatter the trappings of expectation the former president had built for himself by implying Biden was mentally unwell and so weak he could barely stand or finish a sentence. In any other era, the idea of ​​a candidate accusing his opponent of doping would be unthinkable. But Trump’s tactics are reminiscent of a presidency and style of politics that has shattered all previous conventions.

In a new memo on Wednesday, the Trump campaign suggested the former president could attack Biden over immigration and the economy. The party boasted of a polling average that its team said showed the former president had an advantage in every key state.

And while the Trump administration spread a daily barrage of lies, it also spent considerable effort accusing Biden of the crime most pertinent to Biden: lying. “This man is a walking lying machine, a fact-checker’s dream,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, accusing Biden, one of the best golfers in the presidential race, of not being able to hit the ball 10 yards.

Trump’s unconventional approach means the country may once again be reminded of the chaos, discord and dissonance it experienced during his four years in office, and which Trump’s supporters love and want to restore.

But it’s also a risk that could affect Biden’s desire to present voters with a contrast between the 45th and 46th presidents, who they believe could deliver a victory.

Former Obama speechwriter Terry Zuprat said a successful debate performance tells a coherent story about where the country is and where it’s going.