HIGH NOON:...Presidential Debate In Atlanta...For President Joe Biden, A Showdown With A Convicted Felon...For Republican Donald Trump, Yet Another Chance For Redemption...On The Latter, Don't Bet On It...Abortion & Immigration Front Center...

 

By DUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas |...Welcome to the World Series of Darkness, as the saying goes on matters such as this one. It'll be a presidential debate but stash the usual reverence. Biden vs. Trump is new territory. A night of "firsts" awaits interested Americans here a bit more than four months before the November General Election.

Never, ever, in the grand, 64-year history of these televised events has any political party ever postured a convicted felon like Republican Donald J. Trump, a candidate arriving two weeks before sentencing following his recent conviction in a New York courtroom of financial irregularities.

And that's just the 78-year-old's recently acquired baggage. He's still on the hook for three other trials, one in Washington, D.C. (the January 6th insurrection mess), one in Florida (the classified documents he took when leaving office) and one in Georgia (2020 election interference).

Democrat Joe Biden, meanwhile, again will see television viewers noting his every move and word. He's 81 and some say he's too old for the job.

Abortion and immigration will be key issues expected to be hashed about in Thursday night's presidential debate.

President Biden no doubt will pounce on Trump's backing of a national ban on abortion, while Trump will paint an oversized canvas of that so-called "massive invasion" of immigrants at the southern border. Both issues are on the minds of voters, with most women said to be anxious to dim Trump's bright bulb on that issue, as will be those Americans who want not one more immigrant admitted into the country.

It may not be being billed as an election for or against Fascism, but, for many, that is what the vote in November will be - Democracy itself on trial. Trump is seen as the dictator wannabe, a candidate who has said he would be a dictator but only for Day One if elected. That he even went there is enough for his supporters and his detractors. No candidate for this office has ever uttered those words.

Joe Biden will likely focus his debate language on his accomplishments in office, efforts that include low unemployment and high job numbers. His appeal to young voters will no doubt include his cancellation of college student loans and his steady progress on improving the nation's infrastructure. Biden may also play up his stoic defense of Ukraine in its war with Russia and his general support of Israel against the terrorist organization Hamas.

Somewhere in there, Biden will also address his executive order on the asylum issue as it relates to the border and immigration. His recent policy adjustment, damned by Republicans, has led to sizeable drops in apprehension of undocumented immigrants in recent weeks, according to officials with the U.S. Border Patrol.

For Trump, the debate task also includes an ability to speak to the issues, his candidacy and what it means for the country - beyond his usual histrionics, something independent voters have found to be tiring of late, to the point that, more and more, attendance at his rallies keeps dwindling.

Swimming under the current will be the question: "Is this America, or what?"

Trump's creation of his Make America Great Again (MAGA) has injected national politics with a loud and proud following seemingly not interested in anything but Trump and what Trump has to say. MAGA disdains and discounts pretty much any and all of criticism aimed at their candidate - charges, trials and jury verdicts included.

It is an odd time in America, but people in most other countries also will be tuning in. Many Europeans remember Trump's term as president (2016-2021) as a time of great anxiety. His open support of Russia's Vladimir Putin never sat well with leaders of other countries, as also did his interest in withdrawing the U.S. from the NATO alliance.

Trump's fondness for the Russian leader remains as strong as ever and his position on NATO has likely not changed. In fact, he has said the war in Ukraine would end the day he assumed the presidency. Biden has labeled that pure folly and further denigrated the friendship with the leader of a nation out to destroy America.

Just how deeply discussion of the issues will go on the Cable News Network (CNN) debate is anybody's guess. Moderating the event will be Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, two veteran journalists who have taken Trump to task in their reporting.

For President Biden, it will be another opportunity to shine, as he did in the State of The Union earlier this year.

Viewers will note that the debate forum will not include a live audience. Both Biden and Trump also will see their microphones turned off when not speaking, both novel to this occasion. That should rid the debate of what became constant interruptions by Trump during the 2020 debate.

Projections and pundit analysis have it that it will be viewed by perhaps the largest television audience ever.

We're way far down the road from the first JFK/Nixon televised debate on October 21, 1960.

Biden fits the traditional political mold of those two candidates; Trump, sadly, is still the wild card...

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