Debates are often unpredictable, but it is especially hard to game out how this debate featuring a moderate standard-bearer and a liberal challenger will unfold and how people will process it. “It is going to be a different kind of debate,” Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, an early ally and surrogate for Mr. Biden, said with more than a little understatement. It will provide a national platform and audience for Mr. Biden and Mr. Sanders to preview their own brands of presidential leadership, especially in contrast to that of President Trump, who had spent weeks downplaying the threat that the coronavirus presented. “It’s like you were preparing to pitch in the World Series and suddenly you found yourself at bat at a key moment. The dynamics have totally shifted.”Stephanie Cutter, a Democratic strategist who worked on the Obama campaigns, said moments like this are when “voters want to see leaders, not politicians,” warning against anything that would look like “petty politics.”

Source: New York Times March 14, 2020 09:00 UTC