The debate prep Trump really does need.

Yesterday, I had a post titled "Do 'allies' of President Trump really 'worry' that he's not preparing for the debates with mock debates in which somebody plays the part of Joe Biden?" I was skeptical that anyone really on Trump's side was worried. It was an NBC article, and I presumed I was reading another article designed to please and titillate Trump haters. For one thing, I didn't think Biden is a strong enough debater for Trump to need to learn to debate him in particular. It might degrade Trump's style to fine-tune it to Biden's.

But, I said, "Trump has to decide how merciless he ought to be. That's all. I suspect he'll decide on the spot whether to show compassion or go for the jugular." In the comments, I repeated this point: "Trump will need to decide whether to go for the kill when he has the chance. Remember Romney in the second debate. He got cold feet." It's hard to imagine Trump becoming mild and compassionate if Biden shows genuine, serious human frailty. I said: "I could picture Joe breaking down emotionally around about minute 70."

The commenter Dan the Man said: "'Sundowning' is a real thing with dementia patients. They get worse later in the day. We have seen this first hand in our family. If you want to talk to grandma, call before lunch. It will be something of an objective test in front of millions of people. I believe there are a lot of people who want to see 'just how bad he is.'"

And Bob said: "[I]f Biden shows evidence of being addled, how much sympathy should the President show? Should he simply ignore Biden completely and let him bumblefuck himself, or should he be his usual sarcastic self? How will it play with the American people watching? As for debate prep, have you noticed how often President Trump has given press conferences recently? Almost daily now. And the banter in the press conferences is often far more merciless on both sides than anything Biden is capable of these days. What I really anticipate is that President Trump will bait Biden so mercilessly that Biden tries to make it personal and challenge the President to a fistfight, or assault the President on camera. How will the Secret Service teams from both sides react?"

Yikes, I did not picture a physical fight. But I remember Biden in his debate with Paul Ryan in the 2012 election. Biden indulged in aggressive laughing and aggravating interruption. I thought at the time that it was so inappropriate. But that might have been intended to throw off the polite Wisconsinite Paul Ryan. Getting into heightened aggression with Trump is another scene altogether, but the question is whether Trump will or should be the one to crank up the tension and make the event super-stressful. The media will describe Trump as crazy and cruel and protect Biden. And Biden could come in with a simple plan to stand calmly and speak planned sentences and meet low expectations while Trump melts down. 

So should Trump stand back, do his thing independently, and let the people decide for ourselves how diminished Joe really is? Or should he point it out — in real time? Maybe he should point it out if it's not that bad and Biden supporters have room to say there's no actual dementia. But if it's plainly in view, maybe it's better to soldier on, to simply outdo him in the argument, and radiate some compassion while the poor man is exposed in his woeful shambles. There are many possible choices for Trump, and he may have to make them on the spot. But that seems to be what he likes to do, and he's got a lot of practice at it.