Thursday night's presidential debate will feature two candidates very familiar to voters, but it will also include many firsts when Joe Biden and Donald Trump take the stage in Atlanta.
For the latest developments in Congress, follow WTOP Capitol Hill correspondent Mitchell Miller on Today on the Hill.
Thursday night's presidential debate will feature two candidates well known to voters, but the event, between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump in Atlanta, Georgia, will also include many firsts.
It will be the first televised debate so early in the campaign, more than four months until the November election.
Never before in US history has a debate been held so soon – previous major debates have always followed national political conventions, which are still weeks away.
There's been a lot of excitement going into the debate, but will undecided voters still care about the outcome of the debate in the months to come, or will it result in a slight uptick in the polls that changes the trajectory of the campaign?
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), who served as Hillary Clinton's Democratic running mate in 2016 and debated with former Vice President Mike Pence, said he supports holding an early debate.
“I think one of the reasons this is smart is that it gets people voting earlier than they have in the past,” Cain said. “In Virginia, we have 45 days of early voting in September, so voting starts in mid-September.”
Cain noted that in the past, debates have dominated the fall calendar.
A first for a White House candidate
The debate will be the first time a sitting president and a former president will appear in a televised debate.
It will also be the first debate to feature such elderly candidates.
Biden is 81 and Trump is 78, making them the oldest major party candidates seeking the White House.
Trump is roughly the same age as the current president, but for months Trump and his campaign have tried to portray Biden as incompetent and confused.
But ahead of the debate the messaging changed, with Trump suggesting, without evidence, that Biden might be taking some kind of performance-enhancing drug to appear more energetic.
House Speaker Mike Johnson addressed Trump's comments to reporters on Wednesday.
“What everyone wants to know is, which Joe Biden is going to show up,” Johnson said. “My conclusion is this: Biden, even if he drank a gallon of energy drinks, will never be able to match the acumen and preparedness of Donald Trump.”
While the Trump campaign has downplayed debate preparations, the White House has made it clear that the president and his staff have been doing a lot of preparation during their stay at Camp David.
Biden is expected to highlight his fight for democracy and abortion rights, as well as what he has done for the economy.
Trump is likely to try to attack Biden on issues related to immigration, the US southern border, crime and inflation.
The rules of debate are changing
During the first 2020 debate, Trump repeatedly interrupted Biden, something his advisers later acknowledged had damaged the candidate's reputation.
At one point during the debate, an exasperated Biden said, “Would you just shut up?”
But CNN, which will broadcast Thursday's debate, is laying out some strict ground rules.
Each candidate's microphone is cut off after they speak, making interruptions less likely, and, perhaps most importantly, there's no in-studio audience.
Trump has often made crowd-pleasing remarks in the past, which could affect the tone of the debate.
Candidates will not be allowed to have pre-written notes in front of them at the start of the debate, but will be given pen and paper if they want to take notes as the debate progresses.
The 90-minute debate will be simulcast on WTOP-FM and WTOP.com Thursday at 9 p.m.
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