Most Americans can vaguely remember the post apocalyptic 1985 Mad Max movie “Beyond Thunderdome,” where disputes were settled savagely with fights to the death before an audience of screaming illiterates in the Wasteland.

And as the presidential debate on Tuesday approaches between Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris and former Republican President Donald Trump, most pundits agree that this could very well be a make-or-break event.

If one candidate falters and bites the dust, there won’t be time enough for their brain trusts and spinners to resurrect their candidacies. As the toothless denizens of Bartertown might say in their Australian accents, in Thunderdome “Two men enter, one man leaves.”

But they were talking about just two individuals locked in mortal combat over pig methane and gas and drinkable water.  One wins and walks away. The other bites the dust and waits for the flies.