Despite refusing to debate his primary challengers, former President Donald Trump called on President Joe Biden to debate him “anytime, anywhere, anywhere.” In the increasingly bizarre world of presidential politics in 2024, the only condition the former president added was a drug test requirement. Given that the medical reports released by each candidate are fairly limited, it might be interesting to know exactly what medications each candidate is taking.
Presidential debates are much more exciting to think about than to experience, much like the classic debate about what a Big Mac or Pringles are to nutrition. When we imagine such discussions, our imaginations are filled with something similar to dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter and hormone that produces a chemical high in the brain, leading to a desire for more carbohydrates, calories, drugs, alcohol, and perhaps arguments.
Politics changed when viewers saw the handsome young war hero John F. Kennedy face off against the sweaty, jovial Richard Nixon in the first televised presidential debate in 1960. When I joined my college's debate team and studied its debate texts, Nixon's logic and arguments seemed far more powerful than they appeared on a flickering black-and-white screen. That was the moment I realized how much style trumps content on television.
Most of our memories of past presidential debates reinforce the principle that actions and tone almost always defeat ideas and policies. Ronald Reagan's quips made Zipper far more appealing than the intellectual Jimmy Carter or the bland Walter Mondale. Every time George H.W. Bush checked his watch, he lost votes to the enthusiastic and ambitious former governor of Arkansas, Bill Clinton. And Al Gore, oscillating between condescending sighs and aggressive arrogance, looked like a smug insider mocking the friendly, jovial George W. Bush.
I distinctly remember former President Trump aggressively stalking Hillary Clinton and declaring her a “devil.” When Hilary tried to fight back, the Wellesley College debutant learned how difficult it was to win a brawl with a trained scrapper at New York City's Real Estate Fight Club. Four years later, Joe Biden won the debate by largely ignoring Trump's provocative interruptions and accusations and maintaining calm in the midst of the chaos.
Given the candidates' ages, cognitive abilities, and love of the national spectacle, most of us would want to watch the debate.
Donald Trump clearly believes he is an alpha male, able to reassert his relentlessly bellicose personality in one-on-one conflicts.
The biggest issue for the Biden team is history and facts. So far, there has been no effective host to rein in President Trump's rants and fables. Perhaps Mister Rogers, Martin Luther King Jr., or Jane Goodall would, but even that may be questionable. The only solution may be a pair of academic moderators with experience in unruly college debate.
No one is going to force the former president to admit he lost the 2020 election, but the Biden team should insist on independent fact-checkers to correct misinformation and misinformation in real time. Perhaps substantive conversations about taxes, health care, border policy, and international alliances will eventually become possible if candidates understand that they cannot be intimidated by the moderator and that deviations from the truth will be quickly caught and corrected. You might be able to see it. Or maybe not.
Maurice O'Sullivan is the Kenneth Currie Professor of Literature Emeritus at Rollins College and immediate past president of the Florida Historical Society.
