Why top Democrats are already setting the bar low for Biden, 81, in the debate with Trump, 78, in the most important match-up of his career
- Democrats urge Biden to needle Trump to make him angry
- READ MORE: Half of voters expect Biden to forget where he is at first debate
Top Democrats are already setting the bar low for President Joe Biden in the upcoming debate, even predicting a loss for the president in the historic match up with President Donald Trump.
Biden plans to spend most the week at the presidential retreat at Camp David resting up and preparing for the debate, which is arguably the most important debate in his career.
David Axelrod, the former campaign chief for President Barack Obama, warned the Biden team to be aware of the history of challengers facing a first term president.
'The history of incumbent presidents in first debates is pretty dismal,' Axelrod said in recent podcast discussion. 'Because those presidents haven't had anybody in their grill for a long time and their impulse is to defend every aspect of their records.'
'The incumbent president always loses the first debate,' former Obama advisor Dan Pfeiffer said during an event with former Biden White House press secretary Jen Psaki.
President Joe Biden chuckles as reporters shout questions to him at the White House
Pfeiffer recalled President Barack Obama's disastrous first debate against Mitt Romney, President George W. Bush's loss against John Kerry, and even President Bill Clinton's struggles in his first debate with Bob Dole.
Other strategists agree, either setting the bar exceedingly low for Biden or to raising the alarm for those preparing him for the debate.
'Sometimes sitting presidents get a little rusty,' former Obama advisor Tommy Vietor said in an interview, agreeing with his former cohorts.
Meanwhile, Trump allies have been floating around the idea that if Biden actually performs well, it's due to him being on cocaine or other performance-enhancing drugs.
And earlier this week, Trump suggested at a rally in Racine, Wisconsin, that Biden was going to do cocaine to get 'pumped up' for next week's debate.
'He's gonna be so pumped up, he's gonna be so pumped up,' Trump said of Biden. 'You know all that stuff that was missing about a month ago from the White House? What happened?' Trump asked.
'Somebody didn't pick up hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cocaine,' the former president continued. 'I wonder who that could've been. I don't know. Actually, I think it was Joe.'
Former President Donald Trump, left, and Joe Biden, right, with moderator Chris Wallace, center, of Fox News during the first presidential debate on Sept. 29, 2020
Democrats are comforted by the fact that former White House chief of staff Ron Klain has confirmed he will return to help the aging president with the debate preparations.
Klain has been involved with presidential debate preparations as far back as Al Gore in the 2000 campaign. He helped Obama prepared for his debates with Mitt Romney during the 2012 reelection campaign as well as Hillary Clinton's debates with Trump in 2016.
Democrats tell DailyMail.com that former White House counsel Bob Bauer will also prepare Biden to face Trump. Bauer played Trump in Biden's preparations for the 2020 debates and was also involved with debate preparations for Obama.
'I hope they have talked about how to avoid looking rusty,' one strategist told DailyMail.com
Psaki, now an anchor for MSNBC, conceded that the debate would be a high-stakes showdown between the two candidates, but it was one Biden could not avoid.
FILE: Donald Trump and Joe Biden at the 2020 presidential debate
The Biden team was wary about whether or not they wanted to do a debate with Trump after the infamous first 2020 debate devolved into a shouting and interrupting match moderated by a protesting Chris Wallace.
For months, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and the Biden campaign refused to confirm a debate, despite Trump's repeated assertion that he would be willing to debate 'anytime, anywhere.'
But when broadcaster Howard Stern asked the president in April if he would debate, Biden confirmed he was willing to do so.
'I am somewhere,' Biden responded. 'I don't know when. I'm happy to debate him.'
Joe Biden finally confirmed his intention to debate Trump during his interview with Howard Stern
Former President Donald Trump is eagerly anticipating another debate, setting low expectations for the president
Psaki said Biden could not avoid the debate, but agreed it was 'smart' that they got Trump to agree to his terms and to get it on CNN.
Democrats were furious with the first 2020 debate, blaming the Commission on Presidential Debates for allowing Trump to walk all over Wallace and talk over Biden.
One Democratic strategist told DailyMail.com to expect a 'few zingers' from Biden but suggested that he and his team focus on his agenda.
'I think voters will want to see President Biden discuss his accomplishments and present a positive future-driven agenda to define his vision for a second term,' he said.
Others believe Biden should focus intently on provoking Trump, reminding him (and the audience) that he is a convicted felon.
Psaki advised that Democrats should find a way to get Biden to 'needle' Trump in a way that provokes Trump without turning off the viewers.
'They have to figure out the right way to do that,' she said.
The challenge for Biden, she said, was to emphasize the contrast between him and the former president to remind viewers what he represented.
'I think for him the challenge is going to be letting go of the laundry list of accomplishments of which he has many and the data points that prove those accomplishments, because that is not winning any debate,' she said.
