Friday Mailbag!

My anniversary edition.

Today, May 10, is my 21st wedding anniversary.

Getting married to my wife was BY FAR the best decision I have made in my life. And I am really proud that we have now been married for more than two decades. Marriage is, well, hard. And marriage with kids is even harder. And being married to me is damn near impossible.

I mean…

My wife is an amazing woman. She is smart. Beautiful. Kind. And funny as hell. People — including me — love to be around her.

Which is what I am going to do today. I am mostly offline as we spend some quality time together — sandwiched in between various kids sports commitments! (I am going to try to do a shortened “Chris Crucial” newsletter tonight. No promises!)

But, I never would let a Friday go without answering your questions. So, let’s do this thing.

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Q: RE: Debates - A) do you think a debate will actually happen? B) do you think Biden could get a format change where the 2 candidates are in different rooms or pods or something, and only one mic is hot at a time, on the grounds that Trump has never adhered to debate rules and never will. That's maybe the only way I would agree debate Trump if I were Biden.

A: Man, I go back and forth on this!

Trump clearly wants there to be debates. He had two separate Truth Social posts on Thursday alone trying to pressure Joe Biden to debate.

Does Biden want to do it? Eh….I know people point to the fact that he told Howard Stern that he would debate Trump but, to me, that felt like sort of an unplanned, throwaway line.

As in, I don’t think Biden and his team decided that he would agree to debate Trump — and make that news on the Stern show.

Because of that, I still don’t think we are guaranteed any general election debates. As I have said before, I am not sure it’s in Biden’s interest to do them. If he looks old or doddering or out of it for one second, that’s going to be the big story because of the lingering doubts about his age in the electorate.

As for your format suggestions, they are interesting — and will never happen. Mostly because the only way to get the two candidates on stage is to get them to agree to the rules of the debate beforehand. And there is NO way Trump and his team would agree to your rules.

Q: What is the draw for a guy like Bill Barr to denounce Trump but then circle back to him in the end?

Barr has been a Beltway insider for over 40 years. A respected legal mind amongst conservatives and has been AG twice. To me, it seems, that all of this cozying up to Trump has soiled that reputation.

Is the thirst for proximity to power that strong? At this point I find it hard to be about money. But I also don't like to think about how another man has spent his money, so I could be all wrong about financial obligations and the like.....

A: One of my guiding principles in life — especially when I can’t figure out the answer to a question — is this: The answer to all of your questions is money. (It’s a line from Don Ohlmeyer, the TV executive who produced “Monday Night Football.”)

So, I guess, money? But I can’t imagine that Barr needs money! He’s 73 years old and back in 2019 Forbes estimated his net worth as north of $40 million.

Can he possibly have blown through all that money? No way, right?

If it’s not money that’s motivating Barr’s odd decision to say he will be voting for Trump, I genuinely don’t know what it is. The only possible option is blind party loyalty — that ANY Republican (even one Barr has suggested is unfit for office) is better than ANY Democrat.

I mean, what else can it be?