President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden debate for the first time tonight. Madison College political science instructor Dr. Maurice Sheppard says both men will be pressed about their past records as well as future plans
“Retrospectively, look at our records. But also promote sort of prospectively. That we are in the middle of a pandemic, the economy has slowed down . . there are other social issues that the United States needs to address, and which one of the two candidates would be best, prospectively moving into the future.”
The 90 minute debate from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. It will focus on domestic issues.
“In terms of the pandemic, how that relates to the economy, and also issues relating to social unrest and election integrity. I think for most voters, even if they’ve already made their minds up, they still want to hear from each candidate. Not necessarily just their attacks on the other person, but what are they actually going to do.”
“Fox News Sunday” anchor Chris Wallace will moderate tonight’s debate. “In every presidential debate, we seem to have this same question come up – how vigorous should a moderator be and what role they should they play in a presidential debate. I don’t think there should be necessarily sort of fact checking on the fly. But a moderator can and should probably insist that the candidate actually answer the question that is posed.”
Shephard also cautions about declaring a “winner” or “loser” out of tonight’s debate between Trump and Biden.
“2016 provided a great example that you can be a winner but still end up being a loser. So the Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, by most measures and the polling shows that she actually did better in the debates that she had with candidate Trump. So she actually won the debates. However, you can win the debates but still — as we know — lose the election.”
The debate begins at 8:00 pm and is being carried by most major news networks.