在第一次面对面的全体会议之前，一个关于两次竞选的故事正在浮出水面选举总统之间唐纳德·特朗普和前副总统乔·拜登周二晚上在总统辩论台上。
尽管特朗普总统在竞选过程中一直在努力，在过去一周举行了八次活动，但拜登采取了截然不同的方法，保持了一个轻松的时间表，以便为即将到来的会议做准备。
据知情人士透露，这位前副总统已经为辩论准备工作做好了准备，辩论准备工作由民主党辩论大师和拜登的前幕僚长罗恩·克莱恩(Ron Klain)监督。
据知情人士透露，准备工作还包括拜登的高级顾问、前白宫总法律顾问鲍勃·鲍尔(Bob Bauer)担任唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)的职务，帮助这位前副总统为周二做好准备。
“乔·拜登非常注重准备，”帕蒂·索利斯·道尔说，他是民主党战略家，也是拜登的前顾问，曾参加过2008年副总统辩论的准备工作。
曼德尔·颜/法新社，通过盖蒂图像，文件
2020年3月15日，民主党总统候选人前副总统乔·拜登和参议员伯尼·桑德斯在DC参加总统辩论。
“他明白这是一个真正与美国人民直接对话的机会。所以他想确保自己做好了准备，”她补充道，注意到他对简报和战略讨论的喜爱。
周六在接受MSNBC采访时，这位前副总统预测他在辩论舞台上的时间将会很艰难，并预计总统将会变得更加私人化。
“这将是困难的。我知道——我的意思是我的猜测将只是直接攻击。它们大多是私人的。这是他唯一知道该怎么做的事。他不知道如何辩论事实，因为他没那么聪明。他不知道那么多事实，”拜登在自己的攻击中说。
拜登的助手预计，这位前副总统将专注于在他的舞台上为自己的总统任期辩护，拜登预计将把他的愿景与特朗普的记录进行对比，特别是他对冠状病毒大流行的反应。
这是拜登在竞选期间一直在传递的信息，突显了他的观点，即特朗普不仅没有拯救生命，也没有拯救生计。
拜登周六预演道:“我准备出去阐述我的观点，为什么我认为他失败了，为什么我认为我必须着手的答案将有助于美国人民和美国经济，并使我们在国际上更加安全。”
这位前副总统将面临一个脆弱的钢索，反击总统的攻击，而不会陷入他所说的持续不断的争吵。
帕特里克·斯曼斯基/美联社，文件
2020年9月15日，佛罗里达州基西米的奥西奥拉遗产公园，民主党总统候选人、前副总统乔·拜登在西班牙遗产月活动中发表讲话。
“乔·拜登(Joe Biden)不会扮演打地鼠的角色，戳穿特朗普的每一个谎言。”医学博士克里斯·范·霍伦参议员告诉美国广播公司新闻。“让主持人在这里做事实检验者——否则你会花整个时间来驳斥唐纳德·特朗普的不真实陈述。你没有时间为自己辩护。”
拜登在其政治生涯中有着众所周知的失言记录，可能会面临总统和他的盟友的严密审查，急于把任何言语失误或错误作为拜登精神敏锐度下降的一个例子——特朗普总统几个月来一直试图提出这一论点，尽管一些高级顾问敦促他在他们的辩论比赛之前淡化这一论点。
“他是个哑巴。一直被认为是个哑巴。但我们期待在辩论中看到他。他有更多的经验。他已经47岁了。我已经三年半了。所以我们拭目以待。但他有47年的经验，”特朗普周六在一次集会上说，对拜登的辩论表现的预期传递了一个复杂的信息。
拜登面临的另一个挑战可能是在总统计划攻击他的儿子亨特·拜登以及他在拜登担任副总统期间在乌克兰的商业交易时保持冷静，尽管年轻的拜登否认，也没有面临任何不当行为的指控。
拜登在竞选活动中对这个话题非常敏感，众所周知，他抨击爱荷华州的一名选民，称他为该死的骗子关于他儿子在农村工作的问题。
索利斯·道尔说:“如果总统追捕他的儿子亨特，我相信乔·拜登会生气，但我不一定认为这是件坏事。”。“我认为美国人民希望看到父亲支持他的儿子，并为他辩护。这是乔·拜登的天性。”
虽然周二将标志着拜登首次参加总统辩论，但他不会在没有如此高风险事件经验的情况下上台。
索尔·勒布/法新社，通过盖蒂图像，文件
2012年10月10日，副总统乔·拜登在肯塔基州丹维尔的诺顿中心学院与共和党副总统候选人保罗·瑞安参加副总统辩论。
2012年，拜登在第二次副总统辩论中与保罗·瑞安(Paul Ryan)对峙，这是拜登最后一次面对来自对方的对手。四年前，拜登与阿拉斯加州州长萨拉·佩林进行了较量。
这位前副总统在2020年的初选中有更多的实践，参加了11场民主党辩论——尽管只有一场是一对一的比赛。
根据弗吉尼亚大学政治中心汇编的辩论列表，自1987年开始第一次总统竞选以来，拜登在33年中参加了26次副总统和总统初选辩论。
“这与准备与保罗·瑞安的辩论完全不同，”范·霍伦警告说，他在拜登2012年准备期间的模拟辩论中扮演瑞安。
这位参议员说:“为保罗·瑞安准备辩论，就是为一个至少尊重真相和事实的人做准备。”“和唐纳德·特朗普，他和好如初...他经常撒谎。”
不过，索利斯·道尔认为，特朗普的赌注要高得多，他在新一轮辩论中落后于拜登美国广播公司新闻/华盛顿邮报民意调查全国领先10个百分点。
“基本上，对乔·拜登来说，策略应该是不做任何伤害，在这场辩论中保持现状。我认为唐纳德·特朗普的赌注要大得多。唐纳德·特朗普必须行动起来，因为他现在正在输掉这场比赛，所以他必须做些什么来真正改变它。而且我不知道他在这场辩论中会不会有那个能力。”
Biden preps for personal attacks from Trump ahead of Tuesday’s debate
A tale of two campaigns is emerging ahead of the first face-to-face meeting in the generalelectionbetween PresidentDonald Trumpand former Vice PresidentJoe BidenTuesday night on the presidential debate stage.
While President Trump has hit the campaign trail hard, holding eight events in the last week, Biden has taken a decidedly different approach, keeping a light schedule in order to prepare for their upcoming meeting.
The former vice president has hunkered down for debate preparations, which are being overseen by Democratic debate guru and Biden's former chief of staff, Ron Klain, according to sources familiar with the preparation.
The preparations also includes Bob Bauer, a senior Biden adviser and former White House general counsel, stepping into the role of Donald Trump to help the former vice president get ready for Tuesday according to a source familiar with the process.
"Joe Biden is very big on preparing," said Patti Solis Doyle, a Democratic strategist and former adviser to Biden, who took part in his 2008 vice presidential debate preparations.
Democratic presidential hopefuls former vice president Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders take part in the presidential debate in Washington, DC, March 15, 2020.
"He understands that this is an opportunity to really speak directly to the American people. And so he wants to make sure he's ready and prepared," she added, noting his fondness for briefing books and discussion of strategy.
In an interview with MSNBC Saturday, the former vice president predicted that his time on the debate stage will be tough, and expects the president will get personal.
"It is going to be difficult. I know -- I mean my guess it's going to be just straight attacks. They're gonna be mostly personal. That's the only thing he knows how to do. He doesn't know how to debate the facts because he's not that smart. He doesn't know that many facts," Biden said in an attack of his own.
Biden aides expect the former vice president to focus on making the case for his own presidency in his time on the stage, with Biden expected to contrast his vision with Trump's record -- particularly his response to the coronavirus pandemic.
It's a message Biden has been honing during his time on the campaign trail, highlighting his view that Trump has failed not only to save lives, but livelihoods as well.
"I'm prepared to go out and make my case as to why I think he's failed, and why I think the answers I have to proceed will help the American people and the American economy, and make us safer internationally," Biden previewed Saturday.
The former vice president will face a tenuous tightrope of pushing back against the president's attacks, without getting mired in continuous he said-he said squabbles.
Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a Hispanic Heritage Month event, Sept. 15, 2020, at Osceola Heritage Park in Kissimmee, Fla.
"That's not going to be Joe Biden's role to play whack-a-mole and hit every Trump lie." Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., told ABC News. "Let the moderators be the fact checkers here -- otherwise you'd spend your whole time knocking untrue statements from Donald Trump. You wouldn't have time to make your own case."
Biden, with a well known record of gaffes throughout his political career, will likely face intensive scrutiny from the president and his allies, eager to jump on any verbal miscue or mistake as an example of Biden's declining mental acuity--an argument President Trump has tried to make for months, despite some top advisers urging him to tone it down ahead of their debate matchup.
"He's a dumb guy. Always known as a dumb guy. But we look forward to seeing him in the debate. He's got a lot more experience. He's got 47 years. I've got 3 1/2 years. So we'll see. But he's got 47 years of experience," Trump said Saturday during a rally, delivering a mixed message on expectations of Biden's debate performance.
Another challenge for Biden could be keeping his cool amid the president's planned attacks on his son, Hunter Biden, and his business dealings in Ukraine during Biden's vice presidency, despite the younger Biden denying, and not facing any charges of wrongdoing.
It's a topic Biden has shown he is significantly sensitive to on the campaign trail, famously snapping at a voter in Iowa and calling him a'damn liar'over a question about his son's work in the country.
"If the president goes after his son Hunter, I'm sure Joe Biden will get angry but I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing," Solis Doyle said. "I think the American people want to see a father support his son, and defend him. That just comes naturally to Joe Biden."
While Tuesday will mark the first time Biden takes part in a presidential debate, he does not come to the stage without experience in such high stakes events.
Vice President Joe Biden participates in the vice presidential debate with Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan at the Norton Center at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, Oct. 10, 2012.
In 2012, Biden faced off with Paul Ryan in his second vice presidential debate, the last time Biden faced an opponent from the opposite party. Four years before that, Biden took on Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
The former vice president had more recent practice throughout the 2020 primaries, participating in 11 Democratic debates -- though only one featured a one-on-one matchup.
All told, Biden has participated in 26 vice presidential and presidential primary debates in the 33 years since he launched his first presidential run in 1987, according to a list of debates compiled by the University of Virginia Center for Politics.
"This is a whole different ball game from preparing for a debate with Paul Ryan," warned Van Hollen, who played Ryan in mock debates during Biden's preparation in 2012.
"Preparing the debate for Paul Ryan is one where you're preparing for someone who at least has some respect for the truth and facts," the senator said. "With Donald Trump, he makes it up ... he lies constantly."
Still, Solis Doyle argues that the stakes are much higher for Trump, who enters the debate trailing Biden in a newABC News/Washington Post pollby 10 points nationally.
"Basically, for Joe Biden the strategy should be to do no harm, to come in and out of this debate with the status quo. I think that the stakes are much bigger for Donald Trump. Donald Trump has to move the needle, because he's losing this race right now and so he's gonna have to do something to really shake it up. And I don't know if he will have that ability in this debate."
