The current presidential debate format is absurd. It’s time to return to 1858.
First, the nationally televised forums are organized by the Commission on Presidential Debates, a supposedly non-partisan group tasked with platforming the major candidates every fall. Except the commission’s leadership in 2020 was made up entirely of Joe Biden supporters, and this year, the commission continues to make decisions favorable to the incumbent president.
Second, the debate calendar the commission unveiled continues to place debates after several states have already opened up voting for millions.
Third, the Republican nominee is expected to participate in a head-to-head matchup in yet another hostile environment. While no moderators have been announced for this year’s lineup, a look at previous years’ hosts gives no Republican reason to enter an unfair cage match. Moderators in 2020 included NBC’s Kristen Welker and former Fox News Host Chris Wallace (now at CNN), both of whom peddled the Russia collusion hoax for years. In fact, the second debate scheduled in 2020 was canceled after the moderator from C-SPAN publicly exposed himself as a partisan hack seeking advice on adversarial questions for Donald Trump just before the townhall showdown.
Despite the institutional advantages, President Biden, whom federal investigators determined earlier this year was far too senile to face felony indictments, is hesitating to engage with his top challenger for a one-on-one debate this fall. Instead, the White House is hinging its strategy on an aggressive lawfare campaign to imprison Biden’s chief political opponent before the
