Time to debate about something besides short stretches of silence

Both Joe Biden and Donald Trump gave major speeches over the weekend, and the way they were covered showed why that CNN debate in Atlanta can’t come soon enough.

By a long shot, the moment from either speech that drew the most media attention was the one in which neither candidate said anything. That came when Trump fell silent for about 30 seconds during his speech at the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting in Dallas on Saturday. Some said it was a teleprompter problem, Biden claimed Trump froze a la Mitch McConnell, and Trump said the pause was planned in timing with the dramatic music at the end of the speech.

I lean towards Trump’s version because that was also the first thing I thought when I saw the speech video: That the pause was planned, although almost immediately regretted. Whatever the cause, that half-minute overshadowed everything the former president said in a 90-minute address, not to mention that he was two hours late getting there and was noticeably slower in his delivery by the end of the speech.

Similarly, the students who turned their backs on Biden and walked out of the Morehouse College graduation ceremony Sunday were Monday’s headlines, not anything in the president’s speech, which was intended particularly to shore up his support among African-American men.

His administration was “opening doors so you can walk into a life of generational wealth, to be providers and leaders for your families and communities,” Biden told the graduating class.

“Generational wealth” was an interesting phrase, because it’s the shortest way of defining the lingering gap between black and white, and yet it changes over such long periods that it’s hard to capture in a political bottle. Biden has to reassure young progressive voters about Gaza, but more urgently, he has to convince black voters that they are still making economic progress.

The 30-minute speech got only middling reviews, but this was a much heavier lift for Biden than Trump’s appearance before the NRA. He may not have resolved his differences with pro-Palestinian progressives, but he addressed them in a way that made a sharp contrast with his opponent. We may be hearing the line from the speech about “old ghosts in new garments” again as Biden tries to raise concern among African-American voters about “extremists come for the freedoms you thought belonged to you and everyone.”

This will be the earliest presidential debate, which might be a good thing. When candidates speak to their bases, you often get an impression of two distinct countries. Watching the two speeches from last weekend, you could get a sense of separate realities.

A debate in June will force us all on the same page to the degree that is still possible.

The media will still pay a lot of attention to things like body language and the other fuzzy stuff that goes into a public performance. But having the debate in a straightforward format without a live audience gives the media the least distraction possible. Pundits will be forced at some point to talk about the questions and how the candidates answered them.

The agreement to hold the debate came together very quickly, and there is a distant chance it could still fall apart over Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Although it has been announced as a two-candidate debate, CNN has been somewhat squishy about what would happen if the third-party candidate gains ground in the polls. The Biden campaign has been adamant that it agreed only to a two-candidate debate.

It’s unlikely this will happen because both campaigns appear convinced their candidate will benefit from appearing on stage with the other. Trump in his NRA speech virtually promised to wipe up the floor with his “low intelligence” opponent, and Biden has taken to needling Trump over things like that half-minute of silence. This is one presidential debate which should send popcorn sales soaring.