National Democrat leaders and campaign pros, who are terrified of letting Joe Biden off of a tight leash, have made their national nominating convention an event filled with social distancing and virtual speeches, so as to lessen the chance for a notorious Biden gaffe.

Now on Monday, LifeZette has learned from Democrat sources that they are considering doing the same thing regarding debates with the president. The media is already laying the groundwork to stop the debates before Biden shoots himself in the foot.

Many options are on the table in Democrat high councils. The primary ones are to pull out of the debates claiming Trump won’t debate seriously, to refuse to debate in person citing public health concerns, to refuse to debate in front of an audience also for public health reasons and to lessen the crowd appeal of Trump’s clever one-liners, and to demand so many absurd conditions, such as CNN moderators throughout the process, that the Trump campaign will never agree to them and thus they can blame the debate breakdown on Trump.

  1. Trump won’t debate seriously: This one does not give the Democrats lots of cover, as it is a blatant ruse. There has never been a standard of tone for presidential debates in the history of the process. Virtually admitting that the president will beat them in speech and wit guarantees the issues does not work for them. But there are those in the party who feel Trump is so hated by the American people for his crass demeanor that this will seem like a proper excuse not to debate. The people who counsel this are playing to their own choir and not to voters.
  2. Cite public health and coronavirus issues: This would play better and would be consistent with Democrat messages across the nation. Though the story on how a one-on-one debate could spread the virus will make Democrats’ spin doctors earn their pay. The media will praise the Democrats for their “responsible” attitudes. They could still debate, with masks on, without an audience. This would be to stifle the president’s in-person appeal. They also know Trump would never debate with a mask on. Though, Trump could agree to the mask, pull it off soon after the debate begins, and look presidential. Biden, given his public health Chicken Little supporters, would never dare to do that and would look ridiculous debating in a mask, his already confused words muffled by the facial covering.
  3. The most likely of the no-debate scenarios, the poison pill: The Biden campaign is actively toying with the idea of asking for all the debates to be staffed with liberal media moderators, a later starting time to keep the debate out of prime time on the east coast, and a host of small details, contradicting already cut deals, that the Trump campaign would never accept, thus poisoning the process. The television ploy seems useless, as so many will see it later online. But that would give media players in the bag for Biden time to edit the debate down to snippets that would make Biden look like the winner.

Even if the Biden campaign still says they will show up at the currently appointed time, place, and extant circumstances, expect more debate controversy between now and the day of the first debate.