Online Public Relations Thoughts

After months of jibing Joe Biden for his acumen and sanity, President Trump and his reelection team are saying Biden will do well in the debates.  Why the flipflop?  Trump's managers are worried that Trump will lose perceptually with voters if Biden comes off well.  In other words, they have painted themselves into a corner and they are trying to get out.  It is a rookie mistake, which might turn into a triumph if Biden does perform poorly.  In other words, high risk like many of Trump's actions and statements.  Now, however, they are playing the expectations game.  Downplay their efforts to hammer Biden's intellect and play up his ability to think and speak on his feet.  The cynicism is breathtaking but that's politics.  The winner-takes-all nature of the election fosters extreme pragmatism and lying.  That Biden and Harris have presented a largely neutral picture is of no benefit to them in the heated environment Trump fosters.  One wishes they would pull off their gloves and get into a bare-knuckle fistfight, but they are worried they might lose a game that Trump has evidently mastered.  It's a difficult position to be in and Democrats don't have much time to figure it out.