The last time the Republican and Democrat candidates for president did not directly debate was in 1972. Richard Nixon and George McGovern did not choose to debate. 

 Richard Nixon was elected to a second term, defeating Democrat George McGovern in one of the largest landslides in U.S. history. President Biden, the incumbent, is refusing to say whether or not he will debate Donald Trump this year. He arrogantly says that he will wait and see how Trump behaves.

Joe Biden doesn't want to debate Donald Trump. Biden's handlers don't want him to debate Donald Trump. Trump can stand for an hour or 90 minutes and articulate his positions on issues, whether Democrats want to hear those positions or not. Joe Biden quickly begins to fade after about thirty minutes. Joe Biden needs a teleprompter and his notecards to speak, and even then he makes mistakes. Trump can stand and speak off the cuff for as long as time allows. Biden mumbles and slurs his words. Trump does not.

At this stage in his political career, the contrast between Joe Biden and Donald Trump is clear.

The broadcast networks and cable channels have come together to nudge Biden and Trump to "publicly commit" to debates. The problem isn't Trump, though. He has been clear that he wants to debate Biden. Trump began needling Biden before Trump was officially the presumed nominee during the GOP primary. Trump isn't chicken, it's Biden.

The media outlets have not sent a letter encouraging a debate yet but it's written. The letter has been leaked to the press to float the idea. 

“We, the undersigned national news organizations, urge the presumptive presidential nominees to publicly commit to participating in general election debates before November’s election,” states an as-yet-unsent letter that Deadline has seen from NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox News, and CNN to the Trump and Biden campaigns.

“If there is one thing Americans can agree on, during this polarized time, it is that the stakes of this election are exceptionally high,” the correspondence also says, noting that in every election since 1976 “tens of millions have tuned in” to Presidential debates. “There is simply no substitute for the candidates debating with each other, and before the American people, their visions for the future of the nation.”

It has been leaked to The New York Times, for example, in hopes of getting the paper to sign on to the letter, too. The networks want to get support from publications, too. 

One Democrat said, “No reason to commit this early, not taking debates off the table either."  What happened to normal? Remember that Biden ran on a return to normal in 2020. Normal has failed to appear during Biden's time in the White House and it looks like the Biden campaign is looking for an excuse to take a pass on a debate. Biden has a history of always being on defense. Biden leads from behind and is always playing catch-up. 

Trump critics point to the fact that Trump didn't participate in the RNC debates during the primary. Trump pulled out of a second debate with Biden in 2020 when the organizers switched to a virtual format, allegedly because of COVID-19 concerns. 

Will Team Biden allow the president to get outside of his safe media cocoon? His handlers rely on reporters submitting questions in advance and then they put answers on notecards for the president. He only goes to friendly outlets for the few interviews he has agreed to do. He's a weak incumbent. It will be interesting to see what is decided. 

**UPDATE** I'm informed by someone in the know that NewsNation has signed the letter, too. The more the better, I say. The voters deserve a debate.