Debating debates
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On the one hand, as a descriptive matter Pelosi’s statement is 100% accurate. Trump is a pathological bullshitter, and “debating” this deranged narcissist gives his unhinged rantings a legitimacy they don’t deserve.
On the other, as a tactical matter all this has little relevance to the question of whether it’s a good idea for Biden to refuse to debate Trump. My sense is that it’s not, because:
(a) Biden is likely to come off far better in any debate than Trump. Biden is generally a good debater, at least in one on one formats, and Trump is Trump.
(b) Biden is a solid favorite at this point, but not to the extent that he can afford a four corners strategy (archaic basketball metaphor), or to park the bus (effete out of touch coastal Scouser fan metaphor). I mean there’s playing it safe and playing it too safe. This would be the latter because
(c) The political media would have a conniption. What kind of horse race features no horses? Mommy, it’s not fair! (Works as either a Trump tweet or a Cillizza column on this topic).
Side note: Reading Rick Perlstein’s Reaganland reminded me that there were no presidential debates between the famous Nixon-Kennedy encounter in 1960 and Ford-Carter in 1976 (Apparently the Fairness Doctrine was interpreted in such a way that it was believed a nationally televised presidential debate would have to welcome every minor party nut case that demanded equal time. This was finally finessed in 1976 by having an outside organization — the League of Women Voters — put on the debate rather than the candidates themselves). I’d also forgotten that there was a massive technological glitch during the foreign policy debate that caused the sound to be lost for something like 20 minutes. That’s the debate that’s remembered for Ford’s statement that Poland wasn’t under Soviet domination. Perlstein points out that this was actually unfair to Ford, who said something more nuanced than that, but it got reported as a huge gaffe).
Anyway I’m not sure what Pelosi was making a serious suggestion, but it’s not one that should be taken seriously in my view. It’s still nice to hear her put the truth about Trump in such a refreshingly blunt way however, instead of the usual you salute the rank not the man nonsense.