Dem
51
GOP
49
Democrats are worriers by nature. Something could go wrong. No matter what is going right, something could go wrong. The worry du jour is Joe Biden debating Donald Trump. A number of senior Democrats are basically warning Biden against debating Trump, who has so far skipped all the primary debates. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) said: "I would think twice about it." Durbin was present at one of Trump's debates with Hillary Clinton in 2016 and is afraid Trump will pull some outrageous trick that might fluster Biden, who is not a particularly confident public speaker or debater. Trump could also yell over him and not let Biden finish a single sentence.
Other Democrats are thinking that the expectations for Trump are so low, that merely beating the expectations would cause the media to declare Trump the "winner." This is what happened to Al Gore in 2000, when George W. Bush didn't make blunder after blunder in the first debate. It is the same effect that happens if Wall Street analysts predict that some company will make $110 billion in a year and then it reports $105 billion: Its stock tanks, even though $105 billion is a lot of money. If Trump actually preps for the debate with competent advisers and memorizes a few talking points, he could beat expectations.
On the other hand, Biden did reasonably well in 2020 and if he debates in 2024 and shows that he is not the doddering fool Fox News says he is, a debate might help him, especially if Trump acts up and doesn't appear presidential. Speaking out of turn and trying to stop Biden from talking might get his base to applaud, but could turn off independents.
The Commission on Presidential Debates has already scheduled three general election presidential debates, in Texas, Virginia, and Utah. However, neither Biden nor Trump has agreed to anything. If Biden wants to get out of debating, he could insist on some rules that Trump might not like. For example, he could insist that all three debates are in swing states like Michigan, Georgia, and Arizona. He could also insist there be no studio audience to start cheering and booing. He could insist that the moderators have buttons to kill both candidates' microphones, and when one candidate is speaking, the other one's mic is off. He could demand that when it is one candidate's turn, the camera does not show the other candidate. He could insist that there is a piece of white tape on the stage halfway between the candidates, and if either candidate crosses the tape, the moderators can call a foul and award the other candidate 2 minutes of extra speaking time. That way, when Biden is speaking and Trump's mic is off and the camera is solely on Biden, the only way for Trump to get attention would be to cross the tape and have the moderators call a foul on him. If Biden made these demands and Trump refused them, many people would probably say that the demands were not unreasonable so Biden was justified in skipping the debates. (V)