Tomorrow night Donald Trump faces Joe Biden in their first TV debate. Everybody’s looking forward to it. Will Trump intimidate Biden, as he tried to do with Hillary Clinton? Will Biden get mixed up in his responses to questions? Will Biden agree to Trump’s demand that he – Biden – take a drugs test first? The US presidency could hang on the answer to those questions.
Which goes to show what a totally dumb system the US- and many other countries, including the UK and Ireland – have of deciding which politician will get their vote.
How about having Trump and Biden arm-wrestle? Or answer twenty questions without using the words ‘Yes’ or ‘No’? Or have them square up in a bare-knuckle fight, first man knocked unconscious loses?
Yes indeed, Virginia, ridiculous proposals. But no more ridiculous than using a TV debate as a major decider in who is the more qualified to act as US president for the next four years.
Whoever is elected will be called on to do many things over the course of his four years, but one thing we know he won’t be doing is having a televised debate with someone. If you were hiring someone as a body-guard, you wouldn’t have him partake in a game of draughts to see how good he was as a body-guard. If you were hiring a film-maker, you wouldn’t ask him to do a test in poteen-making. Likewise with choosing a president: these gladiatorial set-tos make for fun TV, but so does The Simpsons.
Mind you, I’ll still watch it and hope against hope that Trump gets thumped. (No, Virginia, literally would be just fine with me too.)
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