A high-stakes battle of aging titans

Trump, Biden set to faceoff in Thursday's debate and the expectations couldn't be lower

- ALLAN WOODS

Opinion polls give Donald Trump, 78, and Joe Biden, 81, even odds of emerging victorious on election day in November. They will face off Thursday night on the CNN stage for a 90-minute debate, starting at 9 p.m.

There is wild talk of performance enhancing drugs, rigorous training sessions and spectators around the world sitting on the edge of their seats, awaiting a clash.

No, this is not the summer’s Olympic Games we’re talking about — not yet, at least.

It’s that other every-four-years event, an American presidential debate.

Two aging titans face off Thursday night on the CNN stage for a 90minute faceoff, starting at 9 p.m.

U.S. President Joe Biden, 81, brings a lifetime of political experience to the debate, the last four of them spent in the White House.

The challenger — no spring chicken himself at 78 — is seeking to reclaim the title with a fighting style that leans heavily on chaos and populist discontent.

Determining a favourite likely depends on your political persuasion, but opinion polls give the two men even odds of emerging victorious on election day in November.

The referees will be CNN anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, but there will also be legions of realtime fact-checkers doing their part to weed out the fake news from the facts. (The New York Times announced it would be deploying a squad of 29 fact-checkers for the debate.)

With wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, fierce divisions on immigration, and concerns about the economy and inflation, the stakes could not be higher.

The expectations, though, probably could not be lower.