Harris, Warren and Biden Are Going to Get Eaten Alive by Trump

Most Democrats assume that Harris or Biden--and perhaps Warren--can beat Trump in a debate. The fact of the matter is that in a debate there's a high potential that all three of these lawyers will get eaten alive by Trump. The successful prosecution of both Barr and Biden by Harris, many also think, is illustrative of what she can do with Trump. That's profoundly flawed thinking. The problem with all four of them (Barr included) is that they work on the basis of lawyerly assumptions. What do I mean by that? I'll explain--and also reveal why Harris, who did so well with Biden and Barr, cannot work her magic with Trump.

It's all about assumptions. Lawyers inevitably come to the party with rational assumptions and act like a judge is watching. The fundamental assumption that all three of them bring is that by asking questions you can expose the weaknesses of the opposition. In other words, the opposition  has to answer a question in some form that can then be analyzed or rejected.

But the big problem these lawyers face in dealing with Trump is...

that he doesn't share their assumptions. He doesn't think you have to be rational--even if he could be. Furthermore, he doesn't think he has to answer questions posed to him--and he rarely answers the questions asked of him anyway. Instead, when a question is asked, he responds by distraction in completely unpredictable fashion and then goes off on his own tangent. A tangent that often has not the slightest relationship to the question being asked. An approach that will drive the lawyers nuts.

And so the lawyer, whether Biden, Harris or Warren, will be left sputtering, asking Trump again to answer their question. He still won't respond to their question. He'll just go off into craziness. And any lawyer will get lost and completely lose any Trump argument. No wonder that Trump would love to face Biden in a debate.

So how do you deal with Trump in a debate. There's only one candidate that understands the problem and knows how to deal with Trump. That's Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who, thankfully, is not a lawyer. He understands Trump's strategies in spades. He also poses--as one Republican strategist put it--the only real threat that Trump has in a debate. Fact of the matter, that Republican strategist admitted weeks ago that Buttigieg is the only person Trump is frightened of. 

So how will Buttigieg deal with Trump?
Buttigieg has already answered the question, but few journalists seem to have understood. Their brains, like their readers, are still oriented to lawyerly assumptions and those two successes by Harris.

In stark contrast, Buttigieg said his approach can be likened to stiffing a "crazy uncle." So his first assumption is that Trump is not rational, but crazy. If you're going to debate Trump, you have to start there--and not get caught thinking he will be rational or reasonable. Furthermore, "crazies" are not predictable. Linear thinking, which is lawyerly thinking, is simply of no value in dealing with Trump. So Mayor Pete went on to clarify that Trump "thinks what he thinks and there's nothing you can do about it." 

Understand, Mayor Pete says, that Trump's going to try to get your attention, get under your skin and distract you. “Any energy that goes his way — including energy that goes his way in the form of criticism — turns into a kind of food,” Buttigieg said. “He just devours it and gets bigger. What we’ve got to learn is how to kind of stiff-arm him.” In other words, treat Trump with disdain and neglect--ignore him. "Treat him like he's not there." That's a completely accurate process that is way outside the legal mindset and strategy.

Furthermore, Buttigieg adds that it's necessary to correct his lies and outrages, but keep even that conversation about the outrage and the lie--not Trump.

Then, pivot and focus back to your own agenda.

So, ignore his attempts to get under your skin, correct his lies and outrages, ignore his attempts at getting your attention, and then go right back to your own agendas.You can be damned certain that ignoring Trump will drive him crazy--and that's exactly what the public needs to see. 

Focus on the fact, Buttigieg says, that "we're the ones trying to get you a wage increase and they're trying to block an increase in wages. We're the ones trying to get your healthcare and they're trying to take it away. We're the ones trying make sure you actually get paid family leave, all these issues, and now a woman's right to choose." 

It's a completely non-lawyerly strategy, but it will work. And it's the only strategy that will work with Trump. In no sense of the word do you attempt to debate--unless you want to lose to Trump. Sure, watching Harris or Biden might initially be exciting, but it'll lose the race for the Democrats.