PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — For the first time since 2020, Joe Biden and Donald Trump will go head to head on the debate stage on Thursday night.
Outside of what’s going on with the economy and around the world, and the hot-button issues voters want to see addressed, there’s also Trump’s hush money conviction and other ongoing federal and state prosecutions, and the recent federal gun trial of Hunter Biden, the president’s son.
Kelly Dittmar, a Rutgers-Camden associate professor of political science, says Biden should speak on his position on topics like the Israel-Hamas war, as well as immigration, while she feels Trump has to answer to what he would do if elected back to the White House.
“He can critique Joe Biden, but what is he going to actually do? So the debate moderators will try to pin him down on those issues and for him, abortion will be an issue where he may struggle because he's been going back and forth — how many weeks? How strict would he be?”
Dittmar says many voters have already decided who they would vote for — but the question the debate might help them answer is an even bigger one: Will they vote at all?
“I think that, especially, Joe Biden has to make some strong case about how important this election is and why, even if these are not their ideal candidates, [voters] are still going to come out and choose between the two major candidates that could plausibly win this election,” Dittmar said.
And what many will be watching for is how the candidates behave on stage and what points they get across.
“Donald Trump gets through these debates not so much by detailing his policy positions but by goading his opponent. And Joe Biden has to try to stay on his path, and what he needs to say, instead of being goaded.”
Dittmar says having the debate this early in the election cycle can be helpful for voters to be reminded of what they like — and don’t like — about the candidates, since they get to hear directly from them. And whatever happens, she says, the debate will give voters a chance to hear directly from the candidates in a way that’s less filtered than through ads or stump speeches.
“It's still a long time until Election Day, so the question is: How long will the effects of this debate, whether they're positive or negative, linger before we get to the actual vote in November.”
Listen to the CNN Presidential Debate live on KYW Newsradio, Thursday, starting at 9 p.m.