The high-stakes game of Presidential Debate Chicken is on again, and it's looking like Democrat Heir Apparent Kamala Harris would rather stay hidden in her virtual basement than debate Donald Trump — but I might know how to draw her out.
For her part, Harris insists that since Trump agreed to debate President Emeritus Joe Biden on ABC News on Sept. 10 under a specific set of rules, he's obligated to debate Harris at the same bat-time on the same bat-channel. By that logic, since Harris agreed to debate GOP veep pick Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) following a "brief and respectful" conversation last month, she's obligated to go through with it or she's a total fraidy cat.
Sadly, that is the level the Harris campaign is working on, so I'm forced to respond in kind.
Trump offered a time and date — Sept. 4 on Fox News since he's now in a legal dispute with ABC — but Harris mocked him instead of accepting.
Donald, I do hope you'll reconsider meeting me on the debate stage.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) July 30, 2024
Because, as the saying goes, if you’ve got something to say, say it to my face. pic.twitter.com/fkL9ZYOY3X
So if we want to bring Harris out of her virtual basement and onto the debate stage, then this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture to be done on somebody's part.
I'm not saying it will be easy. I'm not saying it will be fair. Or even rational and perhaps not even believable. But I'm contractually obligated to drunkblog presidential debates and so we've got to have at least one.
To make Harris feel comfortable enough to show up, I'd suggest bringing on none other than Barack Obama as the sole moderator. He would ask Harris questions like, "What is your favorite color? And it's OK to say purple even though that's my favorite, too." The follow-up question could be, "Name some of your favorite things that come in purple."
Then Trump's turn would come and Obama would ask, "Mr. Trump, you said that the Humphrey-Hawkins bill will cost a possible 60 billion dollars. But isn’t it true that the jobs provided by the bill will create up to 150 billion dollars in increased production — using Walter Heller’s figure that for every one percent unemployed, there is a resulting 37 billion dollar loss in GNP? Now, at the present rate of taxation on GNP of thirty-nine percent, doesn’t this come to about the same 60 billion dollars in increased revenue?"
(Congratulations if you caught the reference.)
I'm only half-kidding here with my modest proposal. Earlier this year, Biden presented Trump with debate terms that, on their face, should have been unacceptable. Left-wing moderators on a leftwing network, no audience for Trump to whip up, and mics that were cut off when it wasn't their turn to speak.
But Trump accepted them, marched right into the lion's den, and showed the world that the lion had no teeth. Or claws. And really should have been napping.
Harris might not have a brain turning to pudding like Biden does, but she is simply not up to the rigors of a debate — not even a rigged one. Maybe Trump should accept her terms, no matter how ridiculous, and march into the lion's den once more.
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