The first 2020 Presidential Debate was held Tuesday at the Cleveland Clinic between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. The topics include the Supreme Court nominee, racism, the economy, the pandemic and climate change.
Trying to hold back my anti-Biden bias, I tried to look at the debate from the point of view of who might move the needle in their direction.
This was an ugly debate, a brawl. Trump’s tactic was to heckle and attack Biden, which Biden returned accordingly. Much of the debate was unintelligible because of it. Some very heated arguments, Biden finally broke into name-calling, using terms like “liar” and “clown.” I believe Trump was attempting to put pressure on Biden to see what he could handle, it worked to a certain degree.
When Trump had the chance to answer substantive questions he was very good. He was factual and clearly had a better control of the facts and the real situation on the ground. He was very good and making the cases, in what could have been traps for him, for example in the racism and with climate change.
Joe Biden was able to make some very good speeches, and as the challenger was able to lay out “visions” which would tend to make people excited. However, anyone who knows Joe Biden and has been listening to the narratives know that Biden has no idea how to implement any of his ideas, he has neither the experience nor the intellect.
But in key ways, Biden did not lose. He seemed poised, he did not stumble to any great extent, he did not show dementia of any kind, his preparation was, frankly, excellent.
President Trump was able to insert Hunter Biden’s unethical behavior several times, and by the end had certainly gotten the point through. Trump fell short of actually stating that Biden had been bought off by the Chinese and the Russians. He should have taken the extra step.
Trump also managed to challenge Joe Biden on law enforcement and the Green New Deal, getting him to backtrack on the radical left stances that have come from his supporters. Trump was quite correct that the Bernie supporters will start to look at Biden and realize that Biden is just telling them what they want to hear.
Biden continually pounded on Trump on the economy and how bad it was due to COVID-19. He was using the liberal narrative that says COVID is his fault, and the currently bad economy was Trump’s fault. This meme has continued since about June. Trump attacked back noting that Biden had called him a racist, but the point was washed out a bit because of the arguments going back and forth. Trump’s statement that Biden would have killed more than 2 million, was a good one, but it did not seem to resonate.
Anyone who looks at this reasonably should know better, but since this has been backed by a lot of media propaganda, this likely hit home with a number of voters. Trump’s response was good, and factual, but my sense was that Biden won the battle for the moment. This is really the first time that I realized that the liberal media propaganda machine had succeeded in creating a lie big enough to support Joe Biden. Biden should have been laughed off the stage, but he wasn’t.
At times, Biden reverted to a “visionary” narrative that relates to the radical left. In his speeches, you could see his manner change to the pandering voice, which I believe subtlely annoys most serious people. The “visionary” is an exciting approach, but it only works for a challenger, making promises that he has no ability or inclination to keep. Still it works.
Something that really irritated me, typical politician’s BS, Biden declared that yes, there is systemic injustice, and his solution was the equivalent of a “beer summit.” I.e, bring everyone, police, protesters and radicals to the White House and talk about it. Typical crap that never produces results...
Who won?
Trump won.
Trump was more “feet on the ground” in his arguments, his personality was stronger. He hit home more. When he was able to make his points, they were entirely candid and focused.
But Biden didn’t lose as badly as some hoped, and with the liberal propaganda machine behind him, his most outrageous lies seemed reasonable.
Can’t wait for the next one.