Trump is no longer a pig. He’s a formality away from being the official nominee. Clinton can’t look good long term by refusing to acknowledge him. It doesn’t play well with existing negative perceptions of her. Look at the Republican race. People who refused to engage Trump as a tactic ended up looking weak.
Bernie is uniquely suited to debate Trump.
A) If he’s really already lost, it can’t hurt him.
B) He knows how to stay out of the mud and keep a laser focus on issues. He’s very disciplined on this.
C) Worst case is he never really addresses Trump’s deficiencies and stumps his issues in front of a crowd of borderline Trump voters in addition to the true believers. The only way you can view this as bad is if you believe that Bernie’s principles are broadly rejected by the American people with a revulsion and disdain that exceeds Clinton’s. I happen to believe he can win over some supporters of Trump who came to the movement out of a disaffection with the political system.
D) Worst case is not that the media pays more attention to Trump. Trump achieved media saturation a long time ago. People need to stop pretending he’s the ignorable joke he was when he started, we’re past that point now. We passed it a long time ago. Trump’s strength in the media comes when he’s able to hold forth without interruption or correction. If the media isn’t going to hold his feet to the fire, someone has to.
E) Clinton can credibly disavow any Bernie gaffes, slips, trips, or failures. He’s not Clinton, and the gulf between him and Clinton is well known among the voters. But Clinton can absolutely step in and me-too any success Bernie has. Clinton can’t lose here, either.
The goal wouldn’t be to expose Trump’s contradictions, it’s to force Trump to engage on the topic of his contradictions.
If people believe A, and Trump says A one second and B another, then it’s really easy for people to assume that Trump agrees with them and really believes A (because A is so obviously right). Trump has been exploiting this all campaign. If you’re a pacifist Trump has been against the wars. If you’re an interventionist Trump wants to bomb ISIS and take their oil. If you’re pro-choice Trump has been with you in the past and will probably be moderate. If you’re pro-life then Trump will tow the party line.
The counter is to push Trump and keep pushing Trump, he either needs to pick a side or he keeps dodging the questions. Bernie isn’t a professional interviewer who needs to be nice so future guests will show up, if Trump gets angry or flustered then Bernie can keep pushing.
A panicked speechless Trump doesn’t really look like a winner.
This last point sticks with me. Hadn’t thought of that, and I agree. The source of my concern is the implicit ‘if’ in your statement.
My concern certainly isn’t Bernie—he’s been a railgun the whole campaign season—but rather the subset of the swing electorate that (ow, my brain) is supportive of either Sanders or Trump and screw all the rest. I hope that this demographic is more resistant to Trump’s titrated flow of bullshit, but after the last eleven months I’ve emptied my head of any expectations, optimistic or pessimistic.
Oh please let this debate happen. And let Clinton, change her mind and want to attend and be told she isn’t wanted or needed at the event. Let her feel a bit of the cold shoulder, that the DNC has been giving Bernie since day one.
I’m surprised Bernie would agree to a debate, considering it would make HRC look absolutely terrible for backing out of her own promise to debate. Bernie ostensibly supports HRC over Trump right? I really want this debate to happen though. It’s probably the best thing Bernie can do now to eviscerate HRC and inspire some real change in the dems. There is also the longshot angle. If HRC is indicted, this debate could give Bernie the momentum he needs for the DNC to hand him the nomination instead of Biden. Perhaps Bernie expects a an indictment. That’s the only way I see a Bernie vs Trump general. I’m in the bag for trump right now, and I’m not sure who I’d vote for in that matchup. If Bernie can make a good case for how he can push us towards basic income, I’d probably swing over to him, assuming his plans don’t include driving my taxes up. Bernie is definitely a threat to Trump and that would be a grand healthy election. If HRC avoids indictment, she’ll be losing to Trump by a landslide in the general and we won’t see any healthy debate on policies.
Haven’t you been paying attention this election season? Trump may panic but I doubt he would end up speechless. At the end of the debate he will declare that he had a terrific time, Bernie is a tough debater, but it was a lot of fun. And then his popularity will increase. Trump isn’t successful because of his platform or because of any specific position he holds or doesn’t hold. It’s all about emotions, and entertainment, and personality. Attacking his platform or showing how every other word he utters is bullshit doesn’t work and will only help him. Trump cannot lose in a debate.
It’s the browser I’m working in. It can’t access the server the gif is on, so it renders it as a white-box-with-X, and then when it posts the actual image, it puts it as the same size as the box. It generally corrects itself given a couple of minutes.
But yes. Flying pigs, Lisa the Vegetarian, the Simpsons.
In all seriousness though I agree with the commenters explaining this is trump trying to win the ‘fuck the system’ crowd by gladhanding… if he actually goes through with this stunt.
Charity is never about charity with Trump and his cronies. Someday someone will get rid of the charity tax deduction that big corporations and rich individuals use to avoid taxes.
I approve of the principle of using reasoned argument and discussion. It may have its place even in an American election. I wish Bernie all the well in the world. But I think it would be a bit like going up to someone with a “GOD HATES FAGS” placard in Westbro, and saying “Excuse me, but I couldn’t help reading your sign, and I feel compelled to at least suggest one or two possible errors that may have crept into your reasoning…”
It has to be tried. But I don’t think it will do much good.
