After shadow boxing for months, taking jabs and lobbing insults, Donald Trump will meet his challenger in a socially distanced way Tuesday evening for the first of three debates. The bar is high for Trump in the age of COVID. Can he con the country into wanting the chaos he generates for four more years when there are 200,000 Americans dead from the virus on his watch?
Will the rally-loving president be able to perform in an almost empty debate hall without an audience of admirers chanting “fill that seat”?
For Joe Biden, this will be the first sustained look voters get at him. Will he measure up? Will he seem energetic? Will he forget an obvious phrase like “Social Security” or say something stupid that dates him?