Last Thursday’s debate was an unmitigated disaster for President Biden and a qualified success for former President Trump. Both participants have new hurdles to overcome. Biden must become more effective while Trump must maintain the restraint he showed while improving his factual accuracy. Can either meet the challenges to be encountered on the road back to the White House?
For Biden the challenge is obvious: How to overcome the image of an old man, confused and unable to articulate a coherent message and continue to deal with the stresses of both the campaign and the presidency itself. He may not have the opportunity to do so. Immediately after the debate media commentators and Democratic party operatives began discussing how he could be induced to step down from the ticket and ultimately from the presidency itself.
But if Biden refuses to abandon his re-election quest and insists on renomination, and if no means of removing him against his will can be found, then he will have a chance to redeem himself, if he can follow Ronald Reagan’s example.
Running for re-election in 1984, President Reagan turned in a miserable performance in his first debate with challenger Walter Mondale. Like Biden last week, although not quite as badly, Reagan came across as inarticulate and confused. Commentators began to raise the question of whether the then-73-year-old Reagan was fit to run for and, if re-elected, serve a second term.
But Reagan was able to use his second debate with Mondale to diffuse the issue and thereby ease his way to an easy re-election victory. When he was asked point-blank about whether he was too old for the presidency and might be unable to handle a national security crisis effectively Reagan replied he had no doubt that he could still deal with crises effectively, and added, “I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent’s youth and immaturity.” He then grinned like the Cheshire Cat as good sport Walter Mondale and the audience burst into laughter. An election outcome in which he won 49 states and 60% of the popular vote was just around the corner.
Nobody expects Biden, who’s 8 years older than Reagan was in 1984, to dispose of the age issue as deftly as Reagan did. But should he remain in the race, win renomination, and show up for the second scheduled debate in September, he will at least have a fighting chance of reducing at least some of the damage last week’s fiasco created. Indeed, his supporters are saying he’s already beginning to do so with a good speech at a rally in North Carolina last Friday. And it must be admitted that with a prepared speech and a teleprompter, Biden can still be effective. But if he wants to make a comeback, he’ll need to show he can communicate more effectively without prepared notes or a teleprompter. Whether he can do so anymore remains to be seen, but at least he’ll have the chance to do so if he stays in the race.
Trump’s performance last week was a stylistic triumph. He was uncharacteristically concise and to the point, wisely emphasizing issues such as the economy and border security, on which the public believes Biden is especially weak. But to maximize his performance, Trump must nonetheless meet two challenges.
First, Trump must develop the self-control necessary to maintain the effective style which made last week’s performance easily the best he’s turned in and far superior to his conduct in the debates with Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020. In those fiascos Trump was excessively rude, obnoxious, and unpresidential, constantly interrupting his opponents with personal insults which delighted his hardcore followers, given their intense dislike for both Clinton and Biden, yet which nonetheless diminished both the debates and himself. More restraint and more dignity in the 9/10 debate and throughout the campaign will maximize his effectiveness and his chances to return to the Oval Office. But does he have the self discipline to up his game? That remains to be seen.
Second, Trump must become more factually accurate. On issues such as inflation, the economy, immigration, border security, and crime, the facts are on Trump’s side, which is why public opinion polls show such widespread disapproval of Biden’s handling of these matters. Trump need not use hyperbole, embellishment, or exaggeration to effectively attack Biden. Indeed, to do so gives Biden and his supporters an opening to accuse Trump of dishonesty. Trump should simply make his case as cleanly and clearly as possible and let the facts speak for themselves. Again, whether he has the self-discipline to do so also remains to be seen.
Thus both Trump and Biden have challenges to meet, but as of this writing they both have opportunities to at least try to overcome those challenges. Can either rise to the occasion? Can both do so? Or can neither? Only time will tell.
Malcolm L. Cross has lived in Stephenville since 1987 and taught politics and government at Tarleton for 36 years, retiring in 2023. His political and civic activities include service on the Stephenville City Council (2000-2014) and on the Erath County Republican Executive Committee (1990-2024). He was Mayor pro-tem of Stephenville from 2008 to 2014. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Stephenville
Economic Development Authority since 2018 and as chair of the Erath County Appraisal District’s Appraisal Review Board since 2015. He is also a member of the Stephenville Rotary Club, the Board of Vestry of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, and the Executive Committee of the Boy Scouts’ Pecan Valley District. Views expressed in this column are his and do not reflect those of The Flash as a whole.
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