Over the years, I’ve had my reservations about New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman: very smart, too often glib and too often in thrall to shiny objects. But his column today is a real home run.
A very quick summary is this: Joe Biden should debate Trump only if two conditions are met, because otherwise the debate would give Trump unfair advantages:
First, that both candidates release their tax returns, thus equalizing their exposure to being questioned;
And second, and here I will quote Friedman directly, “Biden should insist that a real-time fact-checking team approved by both candidates be hired by the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates — and that 10 minutes before the scheduled conclusion of the debate this team report on any misleading statements, phony numbers or outright lies either candidate had uttered. That way no one in that massive television audience can go away easily misled.”
The article itself should be read. Especially by Joe Biden and his team!