even a very great political natural would have a hard time doing. >> so then the sense to you is that he has more to prove or can he also abide by the do no harm and come out of it unscathed and perhaps get that bump just for showing up? >> this is the problem. because if he does no harm, presumably his lag in the polls, five to seven points, will remain. he has to use this first debate, which is the one that most people are going to remember and notice, to essentially move public opinion. that's a tough thing to do. >> okay, michael, always a pleasure. thank you so much. >> same here, be well, alex. how do you feel, no place like home and no soup for you. joining me now a retail and economics analyst. with a welcome to you. there's a good news with the consumer sentiment numbers. those are the highest they've been in about four months now. what do you acontribute rise to? >> you're right. consumer sentiment has been extremely high. numbers came out yesterday. they were at 78.3%.