John King: 'What to Watch For in the Biden-Trump Debate'

Source:CNN with a little analysis about the debate.

"With less than five months until the election, the stakes are high as President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump make their pitch to voters on key issues such as immigration and the economy." 

From CNN

This is what I said about this debate on Tuesday: 

"Anderson Cooper had a panel last week on CNN talking this upcoming debate as well. And Democratic political analyst Paul Begala had the perfect point here when he said Joe Biden should say: "I'm in it for you. Donald Trump is in it for himself." 

And what I believe that means is Donald Trump is simply running for President again, to stay out of prison. He doesn't get his immunity from the U.S. Supreme Court, he loses the presidential election, he'll become the political and legal version of the goldfish out of water, right in front of hungry kitty cat. He'll be completely exposed and there won't be anything that anyone can do about that to bail him out, until he's convicted again, at least once, probably in 2025." 

From The New Democrat

To John King's point first about which presidential election this feels like: he said it feels like 1992. In 1992, then Governor Bill Clinton, even though the country was just recovering from a recession, dealing with a high budget deficit, high unemployment, high interest rates, high inflation, even with real 2% economic growth, but Governor Clinton needed Ross Perot's 20% of the popular vote to defeat incumbent President George H.W. Bush, whose approval rating at the time was also in the high 30s, low 40s. This is a two-man race in 2024. Robert F. Kennedy JR. can't even get into the debates right now. It's just a matter if he will be able to get enough votes to hurt either of the major candidates or not. 

This feels more like 2012 for me. In 2012, 8% unemployment, the economy growing at around 1%, at least in the 1st two quarters, President Barack Obama's approval rating in the mid 40s. But, we had a Tea Party led House of Representatives and Senate Republican within position of winning back the Senate, and the Republican Party nominating someone who was basically stuck in between a Tea Party populist and a center-right, establishment Republican, leaving too many voters for Mitt Romney wondering who is this guy. 

I think 2024 is different from 1992 and 2012 , at least in this sense. The country knows what it's like to have Joe Biden as President of the United States. They also know what it's like to have Donald Trump as President of the United States. And to go back to what John King said on Anderson Cooper 360 last night, where he said this election is about whether you want to keep the same car, or buy a new one, as Keisha Lance-Bottoms, who was on the same show with John King last night said: "Donald Trump is not a new car. He's a used car." Americans already know what it's like to have Donald Trump as President. 

As Phill Mattingly was essentially saying on this show, American voters like Joe Biden, at least when they see him and to get to hear him speak. And as Republican political strategist Sarah Longwell, whose one of the founding members of The Bulwark Podcast said on CNN a couple weeks ago, American voters outside of MAGA do not like Donald Trump personally or as President. He was always in the upper 30s, to mid 40s in approval, only got 45% of the voter total between 2016 and 2020. 

President Biden's task tonight, is to show that he's in full command, he's doing the job, he has a record to run on and this is what he wants to continue to do as President, if just given another term. While at the same time he's making the case that he's physically and mentally up for the job and doing the job, Donald Trump as the Biden Campaign has already said: "Is only in it for himself."

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