WASHINGTON — A top adviser for President Joe Biden told me an important goal in Thursday’s high-stakes presidential debate is to drive home to “double hater” voters that they have only a binary choice — Biden or former President Donald Trump.
The term “double haters” burst into the political lexicon this year to describe voters who dislike both Biden and Trump. But that’s the choice before the nation. No matter what happens at the CNN-hosted event Thursday — the nation’s first presidential debate ahead of the November election, one of them will be sworn into office next January.
Double haters can be Democrats or Republicans.
A reason the Biden campaign on Wednesday trumpeted the endorsement of former Illinois Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger was to appeal to Republicans and independents who may be considering sitting out the presidential election — or casting a meaningless, symbolic vote for a third candidate.
Kinzinger in his endorsement said Trump “poses a direct threat to every fundamental American value.”
Biden’s heaviest lift on Thursday is to make the case to voters who harbor doubts about him to hold their nose and give him a second term.
At the debate, Biden will also have to speak to disgruntled Democrats that every issue they care about will be tossed aside or made worse if Trump returns to the White House.
Trump’s job is to look to the future, and not re-litigate all of his past grievances. And he must somehow restrain his go-to place in debates — to bully the moderators, talk over everyone and complain about the rules to which he agreed.
A closer look at the debate
- The 90-minute debate in Atlanta, in the swing state of Georgia, starts at 8 p.m. Chicago time, with two commercial breaks. The moderators are CNN anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, both savvy interviewers at the top of their games. They face the challenge of riding herd on Trump if he breaks the rules, as he does in debates. CNN is allowing all television outlets and multiple platforms to show the debate.
- There will be no audience, unlike other debates. Trump and Biden microphones will be muted except when they speak.
- No prewritten notes will be allowed. Once at the podium, Biden and Trump will be given a pen, a pad of paper and a bottle of water.
- This first debate is incredibly early in the cycle. In 2020, Trump and Biden debated for the first time on Sept. 29. The first showdown between Trump and Hillary Clinton in 2016 was Sept. 26. Former President Barack Obama in 2012 clashed with Mitt Romney for the first time on Oct. 3. In 2008, Obama faced off with John McCain for the first time on Sept. 26.
- Trump is counting on an enormous number of voters to continue not to care if he lies. Trump is claiming that Biden is taking drugs to be “jacked up” on Thursday.
- The viral moment the Biden campaign does not want is one of Biden physically stumbling or freezing.
About Kinzinger’s endorsement of Biden
After the Biden campaign rolled out the Kinzinger endorsement, the former Illinois congressman held a press conference in Atlanta. But he won’t be in the post-debate spin room on Thursday. “As far as the future, I really don’t know,” Kinzinger told me in a text. “We haven’t discussed much past today yet.” I was told by the Biden team to “stay tuned” because Kinzinger “will be doing a lot.”
This comes also as the Biden campaign is stepping up efforts to secure the votes of anti-Trump Republicans. On June 8, the campaign launched an outreach effort to land independent and moderate Republicans, especially supporters of Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor who dropped her presidential bid on March 6.
The Biden campaign hired Kinzinger’s former chief of staff, Austin Weatherford, to be the national Republican engagement director.
In his endorsement, Kinzinger warned Trump “poses a direct threat to every fundamental American value.”
Kinzinger is one of the few Republicans who through the years has been willing to criticize Trump for lying, election denialism, pushing of conspiracy theories, trying to overturn the 2020 election, and his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Said Kinzinger, “While I certainly don’t agree with President Biden on everything — and I never thought I’d be endorsing a Democrat for president — I know that he will always protect the very thing that makes America the best country in the world: our democracy.”
