Joe Biden and Donald Trump are going to debate today. Both candidates have been preparing for the past week. Biden has been undergoing traditional debate prep and Trump has been making calls and workshopping attacks. CNN has been playing frequent ads for their coverage, and allies of both candidates are already starting to spin the eventual outcome.
Despite all of these factors, many Americans do not believe a debate will happen. They believe that Trump will back out due to claims or bias or Biden will find something else to do with his time. For those who do think the debate will happen, most are not planning on tuning in. Interest remains surprisingly low for a debate in such a contentious political atmosphere.
Americans dislike both choices
This reticence has defined the 2024 presidential election so far. Many Americans are unhappy with both selections for president. They often express their dislike for both candidates and desire for another candidate. Many still profess support for third-party candidates like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., although that interest has declined in recent weeks. An early June poll showed Kennedy’s support dropping by nearly a third since the beginning of the year.
A sense of fantasy has also infused polling about the relative performance of both candidates. Trump gets such high marks on the economy partially because many Americans still have not accepted the fact that he is running again. A poll released on June 18 noted that over half of all Americans are still unsatisfied with their options for president, even though they have been locked in for months. They would much rather show their nostalgia and anger over inflation than put the 2024 version of Trump in the White House again, as evidenced by his continued high disapproval ratings.
Can an early debate matter?
One of the reasons Biden scheduled a debate so early was to shake Americans out of their complacency. He wants to remind them of what is at stake and what is coming if they do not come out to stop the Trump candidacy. Biden’s job is to remind voters that there indeed is an election in November, the candidates are set, and the stakes are clear.
Biden is pitching the entire debate process as a reset of his candidacy. He wants to show the American people that there is an alternative to both Trump and the fantasy candidate that conservative media have portrayed him as. He wants to show the reality that he is old and a bit unsteady but still much more competent, compassionate, and reasonable than his opponent.
In this situation, all Trump can do is hope that Biden implodes. He has already set incredibly low expectations for Biden by constantly calling the president addled and incompetent. Trump is also the one ahead in most polls and benefitting from a surprisingly rosy remembrance of his presidency. A greater consideration of Trump as an actual candidate may help to counteract these impressions and put a subsequent dent in the former president’s support.
Joe Biden is in a tough electoral position. Most Americans are angry about the economy and blame him for it. They want him to solve a wide variety of foreign policy and societal problems that he has no control over. Biden must convince Americans that the only alternative to his reelection is a man who has no plans to solve the country’s problems and would do all he could to exacerbate them. The June debate is a good start.