Amber Athey: Spectator's Washington Editor on the upcoming debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump

Joe Biden and Donald Trump go live in Atlanta tomorrow afternoon, New Zealand time. 

The televised US election debate is the earliest in the campaign since 1960, with Americans going to the polls in just over four months. 

It's the third time the US President and the former President will go head to head after two heated encounters in 2020.  

The Spectator's Washington Editor Amber Athey  says the debates don't have as much sway on voters as most pundits would like to believe they do.  

She told Mike Hosking that this one will mostly be about showing who's physically and mentally fit to be President. 

Athey says so long as you can get through it relatively successfully, not much will change where voters stand on the candidates. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
One pm tomorrow, New Zealand time, Biden v. Trump. They've
never done it so early, you could argue for the
incumbent has never been more important to show he has
the stamina to go to Novimba. It's the first of
two debates. And Berethy is the Washington Editor full this,
Spig Taita and is willis Amba good morning, good.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Morning as for him for us, but thanks for having me.

Speaker 1 (00:19):
I can't wait. Does that make me tragic or you
as excited as I am? Oh?

Speaker 2 (00:25):
Of course I'm excited. I mean I think it's going
to be a really interesting night. In addition to the
Trump v. Biden matchup, there's also going to be two
sort of side challengers as well. Bidy versus himself. There's
a lot of speculations as to whether or not he
has the mental and physical capacity to serve another four

(00:47):
terms as president. And then there's Trump versus the moderators,
where the Trump campaign has spent the last week really
going over the perceived bias of Jake Tapper and Dana
Bash at CMN. So those are going to be two separate,
interesting sort of dynamics to look out for tomorrow.

Speaker 1 (01:06):
The rules, will it Kill the funnel.

Speaker 2 (01:08):
Not it will I think diminish the fun quite a bit.
Of course. One of the things that people look forward
to during the debate is the sort of cross talk
and the little jabs that come out as the opponent
is speaking. And because the microphones are going to be
cut off, when the candidates are not given explosive speaking time,

(01:29):
you're not going to really get that same dynamics. And then,
of course with no audience there to cheer or boose
some of the responses, it's going to be harder to
have that lively atmosphere and also that real time reaction
to what the candidates are saying.

Speaker 1 (01:44):
Exactly what's your assessment of the role of the debate
or debates in the overall scheme of things, and leading
people to sawn to who they're going to bite for.

Speaker 2 (01:52):
Ultimately, the debates don't have as much way on voters
as I think pun like to believe that they have.
If you pull most voters, they typically don't say that
the debates are real deciding factor for them. What a
debate I think is showing mostly this time around, is

(02:13):
one who is fit to be president in terms of
again the physical and mental capacity, but really The only
debate moments that typically stick out are the really really
bad one. So as long as you can get through
it relatively successfully, then not much is going to change
in terms of where voters stand on the candidate.

Speaker 1 (02:33):
The fact they're going so early is that to show
Biden's got the goods and if he doesn't, if this
blows up in his face, what are they going to do?

Speaker 2 (02:42):
Right? And that's one of the areas of speculation is
if Biden does blow up, are the Democrats going to
try to replace him at the national convention in August.
The reason why the debate was scheduled so early initially
was because Trump was asking for it to happen because
of the fact that the US now has early and

(03:03):
mail in voting that starts a couple of months out
from the November election, So they wanted to give voters
the opportunity to see the candidate's debate well before they
started actually casting their ballots. The debate used to be
held in September and October, and then voters would go
to the polls that first Tuesday in November. That obviously
has changed, but I also think the Biden campaign has

(03:25):
been looking at some of the polling lately and has
real concerns. Biden is trailing Trump in five out of
six battleground states. He's losing on the top issues that
matter most to voters by double digists in terms of
voters who voters trust more to handle those issues. And
we've also seen some of Biden's bates turning away from him,

(03:45):
African American voters, Latino voters, and young voters tending a
little bit more towards Trump. All of these are things
that would give any campaign cause, and I think this
debate is a way for them to try to maybe
inject some life into what is looking like a dying campaign.

Speaker 1 (04:02):
Amber. I appreciate your expertise and insight very much. We'll
get you on again, Amber Ethiy, who's the Spectator Washington editor,
with us for.

Speaker 2 (04:08):
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Speaker 1 (04:12):
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