The White House race enters the final line • The two candidates will meet early in the morning for the first televised confrontation out of three • President Trump: "All I do every day is prepare for a confrontation" • Poll: 74% of voters will watch the confrontation
With just over a month left until the US election, the two presidential candidates, President Trump and former Vice President Biden, will meet in the morning for their first televised confrontation.
The two will come to the stage from completely different places;
President Trump in a crisis atmosphere - at the height of the Corona plague and a few days after the Times revealed that he had evaded paying taxes for years - had hoped to change the campaign's momentum.
Whereas Biden, who has held a significant and stable lead in the polls for months, and has so far rarely appeared in public, hoped to preserve his advantage and not stumble with his tongue in the face of his opponent's attacks.
Both Trump and Biden yesterday cleared their schedules completely ahead of the confrontation. The two were expected to arrive in Cleveland, Ohio, with their spouses a few hours before the charged meeting. It is difficult to overstate the importance of the confrontation - the first of three is expected - How much it might really affect voters.
A poll published by Monmouth University yesterday found that no less than 74 percent of registered voters intend to watch the confrontation, which in theory would make the event one of the most watched in history.
On the other hand, the vast majority of those who intended to watch - no less than 87 percent - admitted that the confrontation was unlikely to change their decision as to who to vote for.
A further 10 per cent said they might change their minds, and only 3 per cent answered that it was very likely that the argument between the candidates would convince them to give their vote.
Even before the confrontation itself, and beyond the public controversy, the very preparation for the event highlighted the differences between the two candidates.
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President Trump, for his part, has avoided marathons of mock confrontations or memorization of materials.
His preparations included sporadic meetings, sometimes with associates of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, each of which lasted no more than half an hour.
A source close to the details told CNN that President Trump's rule of preparation totaled no more than two hours.
"I think it's all preparation for a confrontation," Trump explained of his attitude to preparations.
"All I do every day is prepare for a confrontation."
On the other hand, former Vice President Biden has devoted many hours of his time in recent weeks to preparations for the confrontation, both in face-to-face meetings at his home in Delaware and in virtual consultations with his top advisers and campaign leaders.
Every day his team goes through Trump's tweets about Biden, to try and predict the attacks the president will rain on the Democratic candidate.
Beyond issues that Biden hopes will play a key role in the conflict - the corona plague, police violence and African-American protests and the president's tax payments - the Democratic candidate was likely to try and let his opponent trap him.
"People know he's a liar," Biden said on Saturday.
"He does not know how to argue the facts, because he is not smart. He is not good at details."
"The 17 Questions"
Of course, the Republican camp hoped for a slightly different discussion, and on the eve of the confrontation they published "the 17 questions Biden must answer."
First and foremost were issues related to Hunter Biden, the son of the former vice president, whose involvement in a Ukrainian energy company during his father's tenure raised many questions and accusations from Republicans, as well as questions about Biden's designated deputy, Sen. Kamala Harris.
A few hours before the confrontation, Biden and his wife and designated deputy and her husband published their tax returns.
The Biden family paid about $ 300,000 in 2019. Harris and her husband paid $ 1.85 million.
And while U.S. eyes have been on the conflict, Americans seem to be coming to terms with the fact that the results of the creative election campaign will only be known shortly after the polls close. Because the election results will not be published on election night itself.
The vast majority of those who intended to watch - no less than 87 percent - admitted that the confrontation was unlikely to change their decision as to who to vote for, it seems that the Americans are coming to terms with the fact that the results of this creative election will be known only after the polls close.
The first confrontation
