Quote:
Originally Posted by ISiddiqui
Trump is running ads trying to double down on the Biden is senile stuff by saying he's nothing without a teleprompter. Didn't they try this with Obama and it backfired spectacularly?
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It is stupid.
But if you had to put some "why might you do this?" thought into it, I think that
(1) You don't lie to be believed. You lie to be repeated.
(2) We are all thinking that people will see Biden not be senile and have this "OMG, Trump was lying?!" moment. But that won't happen. How many times in the last 12 years have we seen actual seen-it-with-your-own-eyes reality conflict with GOP spin and have people still believe the GOP spin? How many Americans think COVID isn't real (not just not a big deal, but an actual hoax)? How many think that Trump has built the wall and made Mexico pay for it? How many think that Obama is a Muslim?
It is really a stretch to think that a lot of people will totally ignore the evidence in front of them?
(3) You are priming the media to spin any ambiguity your way. If Biden gives a really coherent and complex two minute answer to a foreign policy question, but he slightly mispronounces "Uzbekistan" in the middle of it, then the takeaway will be "Grandpa needs his pills!"
As someone who wants Trump to lose the election, my best hope isn't that Biden does well. The "well of course, Biden did well. He's a great debater" turnaround by the GOP spin machine (which will be credibly reported by the media) will dull any effects of that.
My hope is that Trump, having been coddled by his handlers for the last 4 years, has lost the ability to do this well and actually manages to fuck up in a way that somehow penetrates through to people.