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Trump, Biden Will Skip Presidential Debates
By doing so, they are returning to the way presidential campaigns were conducted for most of American history
By William S. Bike
Neither President Joe Biden or former President Donald Trump is expected to debate prior to either the presidential primaries or general election in the 2023–24 election cycle.
Debates never help a front-runner and can only help a dark horse, so that’s why the Democratic National Committee is not going to organize any among the Democratic candidates, and Trump won’t participate in any among the Republican candidates. Despite his recent indictments, Trump remains the GOP front-runner.
One reason neither Biden or Trump will debate is because the front-runner can make a gaffe from which he can never recover. It looked like Gerald Ford was going to beat Jimmy Carter in 1976, but then in one of their debates Ford said there was no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe. The Cold War between the Soviets and the U.S. had been raging for 30 years, so Ford looked clueless and the election went to Carter.
In 1980, Carter and Ronald Reagan were tied going into their first debate, with some polls actually having Carter in the lead. But he fumbled the question everyone knew he was going to be asked, about the hostages in Iran, and the undecideds broke an unprecedented 16–1 for Reagan and gave him the election.
The front runner doesn’t even have to make a gaffe to have a debate cost him an election. In 1960, the familiar Vice President Richard Nixon looked like he was going to beat little-known Senator John F. Kennedy, but then they debated and America got to essentially meet Kennedy. America liked what it saw and heard and elected JFK. In 2000, the familiar Vice President Al Gore looked like he was going to beat George W. Bush, but then America got to meet the Texas cowboy and elected him too.
So yes, it makes sense for a sitting president to skip debates. President Lyndon Johnson refused to debate Barry Goldwater in 1964, and President Nixon refused to debate George McGovern in 1972, and both incumbents won by a landslide.
