The big weaknesses Biden and Trump will confront on the debate stage: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, an evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the campaign trail, the White House and Capitol Hill.

In today’s edition, national political correspondent Steve Kornacki breaks down the biggest weaknesses Joe Biden and Donald Trump will look to address on the debate stage. Plus, correspondent Dasha Burns and producer Abigail Brooks travel to Erie, Pennsylvania, to check in on how Nikki Haley's supporters are viewing the general election.

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The big weaknesses Biden and Trump will confront on the debate stage

By Steve Kornacki

Joe Biden and Donald Trump will each step on stage for Thursday night’s debate with some glaring political liabilities — and the potential to allay or exacerbate them. Numbers from two CBS News/YouGov polls released this month distill the core challenge for each.

The 81-year-old Biden faces concerns about his age and the sharpness of his mind. He may be just three years older than Trump, but voters are more than 10 times as likely to cite Biden’s age as consideration:

That gap is driven by markedly different perceptions of each candidate’s mental acuity:

It’s likely that voters have limited expectations for Biden’s performance on Thursday. So a lucid, nimble and forceful presentation, sustained for 90 minutes, could upend how Americans see him — just as a muddled and faltering one could cement existing concerns and give rise to new ones.

Trump, meanwhile, carries the weight of nearly a decade of controversy and inflammatory antics. And it shows when voters are asked to assess each candidate’s comportment. In the early June