OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ) — Thursday night is the second presidential debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden.
Some estimate that around 30% of ballots for the 2020 Presidential Election have already been cast, and that’s why UW Oshkosh Political Science Professor David Siemers doesn’t think the debate is likely to change anyone’s mind.
“It’s hard to see a second debate really changing things,” Siemers said Wednesday. “If Joe Biden would have some major gaffe, it could potentially be that way, but people seem pretty locked in at the moment.”
Polls for this election season, Siemers says, have stayed unusually stable to boot.
“If you look at polls in various states, there really hasn’t been much fluctuation,” Siemers told WTAQ. “Other election cycles had significant fluctuation, and that included 2016.”
Wisconsin polls have consistently had President Trump trailing Biden by between seven and two points, depending on the poll.
Siemers expects Trump to come out swinging, as he has in previous debates. In particularly, Trump will likely bring up allegations surrounding content found on Biden’s son, Hunter Biden’s laptop, including images of Hunter Biden with a crack pipe in his mouth and emails between Hunter and foreign business partners.
“Given that you have very few persuadable voters left, and they’re mostly on the independent side,” said Siemers. “It’s hard to see that making a lot of difference.”
The debate is the second and final meeting between the two candidates before election day on November 3rd.
