A televised presidential debate between incumbent President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will air live on CNN Thursday night.
For months, voters and political pundits have expressed concern for Biden and Trump related to age, and the debate should help voters decide if the candidates are fit for four additional years in the White House. Biden is 81; Trump is 78.
“Given concerns about their cognitive and physical capabilities, the logic, clarity and coherence of their responses seem likely to receive special scrutiny as will their evident grasp of policy details; demonstration of empathy and familiarity with the experiences and concerns of voters; their relative emphasis on the past, present and future; and their evident energy and focus,” said Virginia Tech political scientist Karen Hult.
Trump’s recent conviction in New York will also likely be a hot topic during the debate. However, media and communications expert Cayce Myers said, the conviction will be a complicated talking point for Biden given his son’s own felony conviction in federal court.
Some of the issues likely to be discussed, Hult said, are immigration, inflation, Israel and the situation in Gaza, the Russia-Ukrainian conflict, climate change, health care including abortion, free speech, guns, public education and more.
“Given the latest U.S. Supreme Court term that has seen several controversial cases and decisions, questions about the ethics and long tenures of U.S. Supreme Court justices might well be topics, as could be ongoing claims about the political ‘weaponization’ of the U.S. Department of Justice,” said Hult.
While the debate is getting a lot of attention ahead of the affair, people may not be paying attention to politics this early. Hult said people are paying more attention to the upcoming Paris Olympics, summer vacations and heat, hurricanes, droughts, wildfires and earthquakes.
“Despite the attention the debate is receiving in some quarters, it may well not have much longer-term impact. Only rarely have debates had much of an identifiable effect on whether and for whom people vote,” Hult said. “Most reactions, of course, are filtered through individuals’ existing partisan and ideological commitments.
“It will be difficult to tell what from this debate might matter by Nov. 5.”
Debate format changes
Myers believes the debate will be widely watched because of the high stakes of the 2024 election.
The event format will be different than previous televised debates: there will be no live audience.
“That certainly changes the dynamic as candidates cannot feed off of supporters in the crowd for their political points,” said Myers. “The change places more attention on the moderators, as they are, in effect, the only audience for the candidates to speak to.”
Microphones may also be cut off during comments. This feature should help manage the candidates but could prove controversial.
“It’s very easy to imagine either candidate claiming that their microphone was cut off in error, limiting their ability to make political points,” said Myers.
There will also be two commercial breaks during the debate.
“Most likely, advertisers will pay large sums for these spots,” Myers said. “In some ways, the presidential debate is like a political Superbowl, where the audience share is a large cross-section of consumers.
“Given that most viewers will be over 18 with disposable income, advertisers will want to capitalize on the ability to speak to this important consumer demographic.”
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Crystal Graham
