It’s all happening! Except the part where Joe Biden builds a lead over Donald Trump. But the rest of it: Totally on! (Unless Trump backs out.) We’ll game it out in the live chat, but first some thoughts on What It All Means:
President Biden called Trump’s bluff (or maybe just did what needed to be done to end the hectoring) and challenged Trump to two presidential debates, under new (and I think win-win-win) terms. For instance: The debates will feel very early in the cycle, but that’s to ensure that they take place before early voting has begun.
As noted on Politix, I also just think Bien has to do something to shake up the the race. He may have some policy levers left to pull, though I don’t think they are very effective levers. And Trump may slip back into the underdog slot for any number of reasons, including criminal conviction. But the only time in the past several months that Biden showed any ability to pull ahead was in the period immediately following the State of the Union address. He didn’t follow that up by making any further, splashy, helpful political news, though (he’s a Democrat after all) so memory faded and he slipped again.
Trump has “accepted,” perhaps indicating some confidence that he won’t be incarcerated this summer? He does have some history of bailing on debates, though. Nothing is written.