By Jarrett Renshaw
As Republican presidential hopefuls converge in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for their first debate Wednesday evening, an unusual amount of the United States' political action will take place off stage.
Former President Donald Trump, leading significantly in the early polls, is skipping the debate and doing an interview with former Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson instead. President Joe Biden's re-election campaign is making its first big media push, using ad buys, Milwaukee events and a crush of online volunteers to make the case that even if Trump is not on the stage, the Republicans there embrace his world view.
And Robert F. Kennedy Jr, a long-shot Democratic rival to Biden, is talking with Virginia voters about inflation just as the debate begins.
The Biden campaign hosted a massive training session in recent days to push thousands of volunteers, particularly in swing states, to post online during the debate and contrast Republican statements with Biden's record. In Washington, a joint "war room" of the Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) will offer rapid response throughout the night.
For a taste of what is to come, earlier this year, a Biden campaign video of Republican congresswoman Majorie Taylor Greene comparing Biden to former president Franklin Delanor Roosevelt, published on X, formally known as Twitter, generated more than 43 million views.
"I approve this message," Biden wrote above the video. He has seized on Greene as an avatar for what he calls the “extreme-MAGA” wing of the GOP, a reference to Trump's "Make America Great Again" policies.
The Biden campaign on Wednesday will also begin running its third major paid ad campaign of the election cycle, a $25 million effort targeting eight battleground states that includes the first messages aimed at Latino and Black media.
The campaign will placard Milwaukee with advertisements listing Biden's "record of accomplishments," while a billboard truck will circle the debate venue. Biden campaign co-chair Cedric Richmond and DNC chair Jaime Harrison will hold a press conference before the debate.
"I can predict what you'll see tomorrow. And that's going to be the most extreme slate of Republican primary candidates ever taking the stage in Wisconsin. The truth is it doesn't matter who wins the debate. They've chosen a losing strategy," Richmond told reporters on Tuesday.
Asked why polls continue to show Biden and Trump in tight theoretical matchup come November when Republican candidates hold extremist views, Richmond said: "President Biden has been counted out every single time."
Contested primaries to challenge sitting presidents often reward the party out of power with more air time to go on the attack against an incumbent. Republicans on Wednesday night's debate stage will likely direct most of their criticism at Biden instead of each other.
The Biden campaign says they have yet to consider whether or not Biden would debate Trump, or what it means if Trump decides against debating in the general election.
(Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by Heather Timmons and Nick Macfie)
