Who decides who wins the debate?

Who will win Thursday’s presidential debate?

It depends who is scoring it.

There are three “judges” on the tribunal.

# The (anti-Trump) Mainstream Media will see it one way, despite whether Donald J. Trump comes out rude and vicious, or polite and toned-down. (Don’t bet on the latter.)

# The people watching it on TV will see it a different way.

# The people who do not watch it, but whose opinion will be formed by memes and out-of-context clips that will flood (anti) social media.

Which has the most impact?

The third group, the least informed group.

By the numbers, in the first group, the vast majority of the MSM is anti-Trump, their negative opinions of him are precooked and predictable. They will have nothing new to say, and will be preaching to the choir.

The second group, actual viewers, are subdivided into three groups: Pro-Joe Biden, Pro-Donald Trump, Undecided.

The two Pros will see their guy as victorious. Partisans always wear blinders.

The Undecideds are the people to listen to.

They probably believe Biden is decrepit, and Trump is deranged, yet feel they must choose one. If they weren’t open to that, they wouldn’t be watching.

Here’s where Joe has to show energy, focus, and forward ideas to triumph.

Donald has to be presidential and act like a grownup.

But the third group is more impressionable, and possibly larger, than the first two.

They are the ones who can be impressed by a torrent of ridicule over something as simple as a candidate looking at his wristwatch. Remember how George H.W. Bush got crucified for doing just that? Or Al Gore got clobbered for loudly sighing as George W. Bush was making a statement? 

On the positive side, Ronald Reagan won big twice in debates — first for telling Jimmy Carter “there you go again,” and then disarming Walter Mondale with his (prepared) quip: “I will not make age an issue in this campaign. I will not exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience.”

Even Mondale laughed and that moment was aired over and over again.

Any misstatement Thursday night will be exaggerated and multiplied on every platform you can imagine.

Sorry to say, that will make or break a candidate.