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Last week I had the time of my life at the Tony Awards introducing a song from Suffs, the Broadway musical I co-produced about the suffragists who won women the right to vote. I was thrilled when the show took home the awards for best original score and best book.

From Suffs to Hamilton, I love theater about politics. But not the other way around. Too often we approach pivotal moments like this weeks debate between President Biden and Donald Trump like drama critics. Were picking a president, not the best actor.

I am the only person to have debated both men (Mr. Trump in 2016 and, in the 2008 Democratic presidential primary race, Mr. Biden). I know the excruciating pressure of walking onto that stage and that it is nearly impossible to focus on substance when Mr. Trump is involved. In our three debates in 2016, he unleashed a blizzard of interruptions, insults and lies that overwhelmed the moderators and did a disservice to the voters who tuned in to learn about our visions for the country including a record 84 million viewers for our first debate.

It is a waste of time to try to refute Mr. Trumps arguments like in a normal debate. Its nearly impossible to identify what his arguments even are. He starts with nonsense and then digresses into blather. This has gotten only worse in the years since we debated. I was not surprised that after a recent meeting, several chief executives said that Mr. Trump, as one journalist described it, could not keep a straight thought and was all over the map. Yet expectations for him are so low that if he doesnt literally light himself on fire on Thursday evening, some will say he was downright presidential.

Mr. Trump may rant and rave in part because he wants to avoid giving straight answers about his unpopular positions, like restrictions on abortion, giving tax breaks to billionaires and selling out our planet to big oil companies in return for campaign donations. He interrupts and bullies he even stalked me around the stage at one point because he wants to appear dominant and throw his opponent off balance.

These ploys will fall flat if Mr. Biden is as direct and forceful as he was when engaging Republican hecklers at the State of the Union address in March. The president also has facts and truth on his side. He led Americas comeback from a historic health and economic crisis, with more than 15 million jobs created so far, incomes for working families rising, inflation slowing and investments in clean energy and advanced manufacturing soaring. Hell win if that story comes through.

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Opinion | Hillary Clinton: I've Debated Trump and Biden. Here's What I'm Watching For. - The New York Times