Alert: Watch for the Gish gallop tonight.

[Towlie]

Trump told a lot of lies about Joe Biden over the weekend and we'll most likely hear most of them repeated tonight, probably consolidated into single, rapid-fire, strings of provably false accusations.

The Gish gallop is defined as a technique used during debating that focuses on overwhelming an opponent with as many arguments as possible, without regard for accuracy or strength of the arguments. It's transparent and deceitful but often effective, and quite appropriate when targeting the sort of people who might vote for Trump.

During a Gish gallop, a debater confronts an opponent with a rapid series of many specious arguments, half-truths, and misrepresentations in a short space of time, which makes it impossible for the opponent to refute all of them within the format of a formal debate.

Actually, upon rereading that Wikipedia description and considering that Trump's assertions are generally outright lies, what we're likely to hear tonight might be better termed a "Gish Stampede"!

[Silent3]

1. Trump can at best manage a Gish trot

A proper Gish gallop requires having a wide variety of distracting asides and tangents on hand and ready to go, well selected for evading particular topics. Trump can at best manage two or three, on only one or two topics, before his vocabulary and memory and attention span run out.

[uponit7771]

3. True, but they'll give Trump 60 seconds of lie fest and he can manage that much. This is going to be

... a farce of a debate; what color is the sky Mr Trump, well I think its pink and purple.

[uponit7771]

2. SPOT ON !!! The way to defeat a Gish Gallop is a hyper focus on a falsifiable statement and dig in

[TreasonousBastard]

4. Heard enough of that this morning with CNN trying to interview Trump's pres guy...

"Yes or no-- did Trump pay any taxes on 2017?"

"Yadda yadda/ Obama/ blurtguble/Hunter..."

"Just answer the question"

"You're not letting me answer!" more yadda

"Ok, so you refuse to answer."

People bitch and moan all the time about the press, but it's really tough to get anything worthwhile from some of these pricks.

[Johonny]

5. Biden wins if he attacks Trump's terrible record as president

The debate isn't going to be about Biden no matter how hard Trump may wish it. He's the sitting president who has done a terrible job. Biden need only keep pointing it out and paint Trump as a fat lying desperate loser crying and begging because he can't lead.

His goal should be to piss the thin skinned idiot off early and often. Call him a racist. Call him genocidal. Call him a criminal. Tell him his kids are lousy criminal that defrauded a charity. Make him mad. Trump's a mess when he's mad.

[JustAnotherGen]

7. This

I'm not backslapping or being arrogant -

I truly believe that's all he has to do.


And if he mentions the names of any of Biden's children - tell him to take so and so's name out of your mouth or I will discuss yours.

[lastlib]

9. ...who cheats at everything--taxes, finances, marriage, politics....

The phrase I'd like to hear Joe use: refer to tRump's gibberish as "mashed-potato malarkey." referring to the episode Mary Trump recounted in her book about the mashed potatoes his brother dumped on his head. That's BOUND to set him off into incoherent babbling far beyond what we are used to.

[uponit7771]

10. +1

[NameAlreadyTaken]

6. Romney did it in his first debate with Obama

and of course the Rs were peaising him afterwards and claiming he "won."

[GoCubsGo]

8. Joe knows how to handle the Gish Gallop.

Just watch his debate vs. Paul Ryan. He dismantled that putrid, little twerp when he tried it. He'll obliterate Trump if and when he tries to pull it, too. Sell Joe Biden short at your own peril. And, it's not like most people don't already know that Trump is a congenital liar.