Exposing the Trump-Biden expectations game

This week, the talk of the town centers on the CNN presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Part of the attention surrounding the debate focuses on what's often called the expectations game. It's a DC parlor game but it isn't particularly useful for undecided voters. Finding out who did better than expected isn't that important. Finding out who didn't meet expectations isn't helpful, either.

My Expectations

I won't play the expectations game that DC plays. With me, I'm interested in Trump's and Biden's policies. I'm also interested in seeing which man has the right temperament. Finally, I'm interested in seeing who can handle complex situations, though I doubt if we'll see that Thursday night.

What I'm watching for-Trump

Which Trump shows up? The hot Trump that showed up for the first debate in 2020? Or the Trump from Philadelphia last weekend? If it's the Philadelphia Trump, this race is finished. That Trump kept pushing the migrant crime issue. It was hard-hitting but it was on point. What was impressive was the fact that this went on for the first 40+ minutes of the speech.

The other thing that I found impressive was that this Trump stayed focused. This wasn't Rally Trump, the guy that is, essentially, Stream-of-Consciousness Trump.

What I'm watching for- Biden

Frankly, I don't know which Biden to expect -- with one exception. I expect him to tire the last half of the debate. Biden isn't built for stamina. There's a good possibility that we'll see SOTU Biden. I sometimes refer to that version as Shot-Out-of-a-Cannon Biden. It's almost certain that we'll see Gotcha Biden, the side of Biden that'll try tripping up Trump.

What I'm watching for- Moderators

I'm expecting the moderators to be part of Team Biden. I expect CNN's moderators to interrupt Trump frequently. I don't expect them to say some of the partisan things they've said in the past. Instead, I'm betting they'll be subtle in trying to trip Trump up.

This is a good segment summarizing the fight between CNN's Kasie Hunt and Karoline Leavitt of the Trump campaign:

Finally, check out Tom Bevan's interview on the state of the presidential race. You'll be glad you took the time.

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