“Without the usual rhetorical violence, a real dividing line emerged between the two men, the issue that this election was always going to be about, dating back to February.
It’s the coronavirus, stupid. Mr Biden essentially believes the economy should be shut down if scientists demand it. Mr Trump essentially believes America has to “learn to live with it”. If restrictions run too tough for too long, he said, “the cure will be worse than the problem itself” – something Britain is starting to come to terms with.
Millions of independent voters, particularly those with small businesses or employed in the hospitality industry, have got to hear that and think “you know what, he has a point”.
From Mr Trump’s rare victory of style emerges a narrative for his re-election – late, really late: 50 million Americans have already voted by mail. But better now than never.
The case for Mr Trump is this: you know who he is; you know his faults. But those faults partly come from being an outsider – unlike Mr Biden – and for all his many, many character flaws, Mr Trump does now have a record and he is the candidate who wants to get the economy rolling again.
It was doing amazingly well before coronavirus and you can blame its collapse on China, not him. Perhaps he’s the guy to recreate that boom and put the country back on its feet? Many polls still rate the economy and his handling of it, even after months of layoffs.”…
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