I don't know why so many people think Sanders can take Biden in a 1-on-1 debate

[wyldwolf]

Biden flourishes in more intimate conversational settings and Sanders has done little more than repeat his shtick in early debates. If I were to bet on it, I would say it's Sanders who will struggle when really pressed on how his policies get passed and paid for.

[R B Garr]

1. +1000. It's also obvious that Sanders will yet again get

to spread his anti-Democrat spiel while knowing his opponent has to watch every word and pussyfoot around him. Only Joe will be hobbled by “unity”.

[abqtommy]

2. In my opinion we're now beyond the point where any additional debate is needed. The "will of

the people" is apparent to all...

[ucrdem]

3. Guns too.

That deer in the headlights look he gets when confronted directly on his support for gun mfrs is revealing.

[comradebillyboy]

4. Sanders debating skills are very much overrated...

[emmaverybo]

14. Yes. He doesn't debate. He harangues, always the same harangue.

[Siwsan]

5. A big contrast will be their demeanors

For the most part, in debates Joe stays pretty even and personable, with a sense of humor. Bernie has always been far more animated and reactive. Different styles may appeal to different people, but in a one on one situation, it might be an eye opener, for some.

Personally, Joe's approach is far more reassuring, for me. He's more apt to listen before he reacts, rather than to over-talk. Just MHO -

[frazzled]

6. Lessons from the 2020 primaries

Debates don't matter
Money doesn't matter
Ground game doesn't matter
Ads don't matter

This may be a one-off primary because of the unusual times in which we are living (Trump + COVID-19), but it seems that we have upended all the conventional wisdom the political analysts have (perhaps wrongly) depended on for years. All of the vectors on which they predict a candidate's strength seem to have been thrown out of the window by voters.

It seems that what is counting right now, in this moment at least, is neither money nor field offices nor debate acumen nor television ads. What it seems that the voters are looking for is: character, trust, empathy, and a return to saner times.

[cilla4progress]

34. So true, frazzled.

2016 as well.

HRC wiped the floor with orange heinous every time.

But, of course, she did in fact, win...

[TwilightZone]

7. It's all they have left. They're betting everything on the "dementia" nonsense.

I don't know which would be worse - if they're pushing it knowing it's false or if they actually believe it.

[pampango]

8. I don't know who will perform better at the debate. If Biden excels

that is a great indication of how he will do in the debates with Trump. This debate will have been good practice for Joe.

If he has trouble handling Bernie - which there is no reason to expect to be the case - I would like to know it now and decide for myself how likely that trouble might apply to debates with Trump. In any case, the primary elections on the 17th will most likely knock Sanders out of the race.

[TwilightZone]

9. "This debate will have been good practice for Joe."

Candidates do mock debates all the time. Joe doesn't need a meaningless debate for "practice". This is all about Sanders.

[USALiberal]

13. Lol, then what are you worried about? Nt

[TwilightZone]

17. Not worried about anything.

Sanders supporters and his staff are putting all their faith in a goofy "dementia" conspiracy theory and the belief that one debate is going to drastically change the race.

If you think that's going to happen, you're going to be sorely disappointed. The "everyone's afraid of Bernie" routine has always been a bit laughable.

I've been saying he should stay in until Biden has a majority, if for no other reason than it would ensure that we don't have a repeat of 2016 and it'll close the door on it for good. I think there's going to be little or no tolerance for the same kind of nonsense.

[USALiberal]

23. The debate hurts no one. Nt

[pampango]

18. If Joe needs no practice, he should do exceedingly well. That is good news. n/t

[Demsrule86]

21. The bad news is that Sanders is not getting out even though he has no path to the nomination which

will only help Trump and create more hard feelings.

[pampango]

29. I disagree. It's 4 months to the convention, 8 months to the election.

Pushing Sanders and his supporters out now instead of a week from now will create 'more hard feelings' than having one more debate and one more round of primaries. The latter strategy will, I think, convince more Sanders supporters to accept reality and support Biden as the best person to defeat Trump.

[Demsrule86]

12. It is over...Sanders is out of the race...he can't make up the delegates...and no one cares about

debates. I see no purpose in a debate really...why let Sanders beat up on our nominee...and if he continues this crap during the rest of the primary which is over than...I say he faces a primary ...real primary in 24 if he even runs...we need to beat Trump not try to heal Sanders 'sad' that he has lost. Every day this finished, done primary continues hurts our efforts to oust Trump. A candidate can't be attacked on the right and the left for long...if Sanders continues, one has to wonder what his motivations are. He lost every county in Michigan and as I have long predicted would lose a general in the blue wall states.

[pampango]

15. The convention is 4 months from now. The election is almost 8 months away.

Biden's campaign is not so fragile that another debate and another week of primaries is going to irreparably damage him.

I understand the urgency of beating Trump. Giving the people who believe that 'issues matter just as much as beating Trump' another week to come to terms with reality does not seem to be asking too much in my opinion. Sanders was the 'frontrunner' just 11 days ago and Biden was relying on his 'firewall' in SC which worked spectacularly well for him. Give Sanders and his supporters a little space to adjust to reality.

[Demsrule86]

20. The sooner we turn to the general the better and beating up on our presumptive nominee

during a debate is foolish. It gives Trump ammo and will create further division...we need a time to heal with Sanders gone and hopefully helping in this effort.

[pampango]

25. If you care at all about Sanders withdrawing in a way that maximizes the number of his supporters

who support and vote for Biden then 'sooner' is not always 'better'. If you don't care about that and prefer to focus on swing voters who are more moderate, I understand your reasoning.

[Demsrule86]

30. I disagree with your premise...staying in longer does not maximize support for Biden among his

followers...just the opposite. It gives the false impression that he has a chance and he doesn't. He should get out today.

[pampango]

32. Sanders supporters not so dumb as to not be able to read the handwriting on the wall.

The vast majority of Sanders supporters can understand the results of primary voting just fine. Again, they have had to adjust in 11 days to perceiving him as the 'frontrunner' and that Biden had his back to the 'firewall' in SC to folks getting upset that he will not suspend his campaign.

If they are not adjusting to reality as fast as you would like, there is little any of us can do about that. If you the manner in which Sanders withdraws from the race will influence attitudes among his supporters towards Biden, well you are entitled to your opinion.

[Demsrule86]

19. Here is the other thing...your candidate will not be the nominee...people know who Sanders is and

what he believes... How many debates?...I think we had like 8. it won't happen. And debates rarely matter...he doesn't need practice...it is over. With this Corona Virus we don't need more rallies where more people can get sick. Sanders needs to stand down. And Sanders could very well say things that give Trump ammo...so Sanders should drop out today for the good of the country.

[pampango]

22. Sanders will stand down. Look he was the 'frontrunner' just 11 days ago or so. Give him

and his supporters a little time to adjust to the new reality. I am sorry if he and they are not doing it as fast as you feel they should.

We have had many debates. One more is not going to irreparably damage the Biden campaign especially if the 'rarely matter' anyway.

If Biden does well in the debate and continues his great performance in the primaries on the 17th, either Sanders drops out and supports Biden or I stop supporting Sanders.

[Demsrule86]

31. It is foolish to subject our nominee to a debate where he is attacked...we need to come together

period. And since Biden has to try to be nice to Sanders in order to help with healing the party...it won't even be substantive...complete waste of time.

[pampango]

33. If Sanders were leading I would expect him to debate Biden as long as necessary.

If he could not perform well against Biden, I would wonder how well he would do against Trump. Another debate will not keep us from coming together long, long before the convention 4 months from now.

[Nitram]

10. Bernie will rant and bluster and turn red in the face.

[Politicub]

11. At this point, there are two motives for Sanders in the debate.

He has lost the primary. Everyone knows it. So here's what could happen:

1 - Classic Sanders emphasizing his disdain for the Democratic Party and the people who lead it. He won't stop Biden's momentum, but he will do damage that may suppress the vote for the general election.

2 - A better outcome would be Sanders and Biden having a civil discussion about beating Trump. No attacks. No silly conspiracy theories about the Democratic Party. Just a good policy discussion about what Sanders and Biden have in common. It could be a unity moment.

I hope the Sunday scenario is the latter, but I'm more apt to think that the former will happen based on the people running the Sanders campaign.

[karynnj]

16. True

I completely agree that just 2 people and a moderator benefits Joe Biden. Looking either at the recent interview with Lawrence O'Donnell, that was almost more a discussion than a Q & A or yesterday's speech, this is far better for Biden than the everybody talks at once for 1 minute chaos of recent debates.

Also, Biden comes in with all the advantages. He led against on various problems under Obama for. Making the stimulus package work to Ebola. He can speak to his leading those teams of strong administration people all coordinating and working in their area. Projecting calm leadership, character and decency comes naturally to Biden. He also comes in as the person winning. All he has to do is not fall apart which is something he is extremely unlikely to do.

Sanders on the other hand needs this debate to be a game changer and he really has very few new things he could do. His normal routine has not won him the majority of voters. In the past, there gave been people who may have lost because they could not get who they really were and their plans out. This is not the case with Sanders. It was clear long ago that he would not win a 2 person race in the primaries against a top moderate.

[Tom Rinaldo]

24. Most likely we will witness a more thorough discussion of real issues

That is all in all a good thing, I doubt at this stage that Bernie will be in hard core attack mode, that wouldn't help him because he is already too far behind. He may want to use this debate to build support for moving policies toward the left by making a strong case for them. Aside from that, I think this is a useful tune up match for Biden to prepare for one on one debates with Trump. Sanders will serve as Biden's sparring partner.

The only thing that can but Biden's nomination in doubt would be a horrific performance by Biden. I do NOT expect that. But if by any tiny chance that were possible, better to find out now. But we won't, so Biden will be our unofficial nominee after this debate.

[karynnj]

35. I hope you are correct and hope they converge to saying as Warren did that they have

the same basic goals.

The difference is in how to get there. One fear I have is that in one of the last two debates (I am not sure which one), Sanders was booed as he laid into Biden. This caused him to somewhat pull back. If his team sees that his only hope is to do to Biden what Warren did to Bloomberg - ignoring that there is a huge reservoir of affection for Biden that Bloomberg did not have - this could be a really ugly debate.

I hope that the short break he appears to be taking will lead to him doing as you say.

As to a practice debate to help vs Trump, there might be some value. They are extremely different, but I would image the similarity might be that for Biden, he needs to stay true to who he is and to continue the theme of yesterday of uniting the country and returning to competency and good governance. I think Biden's team should - for both - work on how he can react to outrageous, unfair or untrue accusations. Some anger is appropriate, but anyway that he can keep his cool would be great. No one is harder to argue with than someone who is able to stay very cool as the opponent goes over the top.

[honest.abe]

26. The next debate is going to be boring.

Sanders will repeat ad nauseam his same ole worn out "establishment" "corporatist" "elitist" punch lines and Biden will just smile and say "Look Bernie.. I love ya but you got it all wrong.. ".

[redstatebluegirl]

27. All Sanders does is wave his arms, point fingers and scream the same stuff he has screamed

for years. Nothing new, no real policies to back up his ideas.

[empedocles]

28. The voters have overwhelmingly decided the debate, its time to beat trump!

Dems do not need more BS, etc.

[Gothmog]

36. sandes is a very weak debater