As a six-time undefeated world karate champion, I know fighting and what makes up a good match, and this presidential debate tops most in my lifetime. Some are calling it the presidential debate of the century.
They may not be far off, not only for the rematch of polarized contenders but unique historic aspects of the competition. This presidential race is unlike any before it. It is unique on many fronts.
As The Hill reported June 20: "Thursday's presidential debate will be the first one since 1984 not hosted by the Commission on Presidential Debates. And prior to this year, no televised general election debate had been held before late September dating back to their creation in 1960, putting Thursday's meeting truly in foreign territory and leaving people to wonder what it means for the Biden-Trump rematch."
Tevi Troy, a presidential historian at the Bipartisan Policy Center, was absolutely right this past week when he told The Hill that Americans, despite low enthusiasm, will tune in to judge the mental fitness of the candidates.
"Even if people are unenthusiastic about candidates, they want to see if there's a meltdown on stage. And there could be two types of meltdown. Trump could have an anger meltdown, and Biden could have an age meltdown," he said.
Biden, 81, and Trump, 78, go into the debate with polls largely showing them neck and neck, depending upon which polls you're looking at. However, again as The Hill reported, "Trump holds a narrow lead in key swing states … a new poll from Emerson College Polling/The Hill found, and the former president is polling 0.6 percentage points ahead of Biden, according to an aggregation of polls from Decision Desk HQ/The Hill."
So, how does one candidate get the edge and win? I'll tell you!
Radical times call for radical measures. Formidable opponents require us to abandon business as usual strategies.
Do fighters fight the same way in every competition? No, they examine their opponents, their strengths and weaknesses, and adapt accordingly to win.
Are all wars won the same way? No, generals and combat strategists examine every variable of their foes and implement a plan on the battlefields that will bring victory.
It is going to be the same way in this presidential debate and race.
Quite frankly, at the moment, there's too much arrogance on both sides of the aisles, not only with the candidates but with fans and pundits thinking their contender will easily outmatch the other by their given (or perceived) strengths or their opponent's given (or perceived) weaknesses.
But pride comes before a fall. Remember the story of David and Goliath? The fact is "weakness" often wins in life and competition if it leverages its opponents with a "simple slingshot to the head"!
Or as Rickson Gracie, retired mixed martial artist, an 8th degree black and red belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and a member of the renowned martial arts family the Gracies, once said, "If size mattered, the elephant would be the king of the jungle."
How true that is!
I or any long-term champion or titleholder will tell you that we obtained such a status (among other things) by mastering our opponents' strategies, not approaching every competition the same way, and by leveraging our foes' weaknesses and strengths against our own.
The art of jiu-jitsu uses an opponent's weight and strength to your advantage. The term jiu-jitsu actually means, "gentle art."
As Wikipedia explains, Brazilian Jiu-jitsu as a martial art seeks to "get an opponent to the ground in order to neutralize possible strength or size advantages through ground fighting techniques and submission holds involving joint-locks and chokeholds. On the ground, physical strength can be offset or enhanced through proper grappling techniques."
I believe this is what the presidential contenders must do to win the debate and even presidential race, of course not physically but metaphorically. Political jiu-jitsu!
Simply put, if I were Trump, I would seek to increase Biden's brain stress by outwitting him mentally; and hence, showing him to be cognitively impaired or even inept.
If I were Biden, I would seek to provoke Trump to the point of anger and even rage; and hence, showing him to be emotionally out of control and even rogue.
I predict that the contender who exposes and headlines the other's perceived weakness through their fighting technique will win the match.
Think again about Tevi Troy, "Even if people are unenthusiastic about candidates, they want to see if there's a meltdown on stage. And there could be two types of meltdown. Trump could have an anger meltdown, and Biden could have an age meltdown."
In my opinion, whichever candidate is able to perform political jiu-jitsu on the other and cause one of those meltdowns wins the match, and the game is over! That meltdown will easily go viral on social media as the only news most will ever see about the debate.
I feel like we are standing at a crossroad in our country, similar to that at which George Washington stood when he wrote to James Madison in 1786, just a few years prior to the first president's election: "No morn ever dawned more favorable than ours did; and no day was ever more clouded than the present! Wisdom, and good examples are necessary at this time to rescue the political machine from the impending storm."
Speak of presidential wisdom, please put on your must-see films this summer "Reagan," starring Dennis Quaid, Marshall Teague and Jon Voight (release date is Aug. 30) as well as showcased by our good friend Kevin Mitchell and his newly founded ShowBiz Cinemas. Also make sure you watch the incredible true story of "The Relentless Patriot: the Scott LoBaido Story." And of course, for fun, also don't forget to see "Agent Recon," the new sci-fi action film in which I have a great and even fun cameo role.
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