Debate duopoly fraudulence, part 2

I was going to post this to my original piece about the presidential debate annoucement, since I didn't see it until 12 hours after that posted, but then thought it would be burying the lede.

So, it goes on its own.

Per the curmudgeonly Jack Shafer, riffing back to that first piece, why is Nate Silver bitching anyway about "Biden breaking norms" when he has admitted his own self in the past that there's at most a two-week or so bump? Could it be that he's addicted to horse-race journalism? Add this:

Whittling Silver’s observation to a sharper point: Among well-known candidates, Trump and Biden are the most well-known ever. The Trump megaphone has been working at high volume for most of his adult life and this will mark his third appearance on the national ballot. Biden runs for president on a schedule that rivals migratory birds for periodicity. If you haven’t formed an opinion on them by now, you’ve likely been living in a fallout shelter with only a hand-cranked Conelrad radio for information.

Bingo.

As for the Commission on Presidential Debates' proposed timetable, which is now null and void?

Shafer agrees on the early voting issue, and notes that Trump as well as Biden raised it. Seems Silver is out of touch with that is now a new norm.

Back to the issue of horse-race journalism. Here's Shafer again:

Unless Trump changes his act or Biden takes a meal-sized dose of Adderall, don’t expect the CNN or ABC debates to move the election either way. But we should be happy for our friends in the press and their loyal readers for the improvement it will bring to their copy. As with Detroit cars in the ‘50s and ‘60s, when a few changes in sheet metal could create the illusion that a new model has been designed, a couple of summer clashes between Trump and Biden is just what political pros and hobbyists crave.

Couldn't put that one better, either.