Theater has many forms: musicals, plays, opera… and debates.
If you were one of the 67 million people who tuned in to the last presidential debate, you know exactly what I mean. Once Trump started going off the rails — and claimed that Haitians were eating pets — I knew this was going to be some good theater. I did find it hard to watch, bordering on painful. Kind of like having your drunk, racist uncle spout off at the Thanksgiving dinner table after one too many beers.
When Trump first ran in 2016, we hosted a Republican debate party for the first debate — complete with debate bingo cards and a pork-barrel buffet. One of our guests, a clinical psychologist, was just aghast at Trump’s level of narcissism. The chaos of that first debate should have given us a clue about the type of theater we would get with him as president.
Regrettably, I didn’t have any popcorn to munch on while this last spectacle, masquerading as a debate, unfolded. But lucky me — just around the corner is the vice-presidential debate. I don’t expect this to have the same fireworks, so to speak, as the Trump-Harris debate. Both candidates are younger, both seem sane, and Tim Walz seems so polite. I’m just hoping he’s not too polite.
Not that VP debates matter, at least that’s the thinking. You vote for the top of the ticket. Even Trump said earlier this election cycle that Vance didn’t matter. Ouch. You’d like to think you have some value to the campaign you’re part of.
Except with Trump’s age, and the possibility of Vance taking the reins and ushering in Project 2025, this debate might matter more than any in the past. The thought of someone in the Oval Office who thinks childless cat ladies (or childless cat dads) don’t have a stake in the country, or that making up lies and demonizing a minority group is acceptable behavior, is frightening. Especially when that group is part of your own constituency. Or that straight couples with children have more value simply because they have children.
In addition, the queer community, and particularly the trans community, has endured a lot these last four years, with Republican legislators taking away right after right, banning books and drag performances, and telling parents the state knows better than they do how to care for their child. Four years of this at the federal level is a chilling prospect.
I’m going to be prepared on Tuesday. I may not have popcorn (Snickers will just sit there staring at me and drooling), but I’ll have something to munch on when the festivities start. I might even work out a bingo card for us. Had I done a little planning, James and I could have made them for the last debate. Although, I doubt I would have had “eating pets” on my card. Did anyone?
Safe to say, I hope Tim Walz does well on Tuesday. And while I like to think this debate will be more civilized, I still expect a bit of theater. This is, after all, politics.
Now, pass the popcorn!
