Debate thread
Here’s a thread for tonight’s debate. Not sure if I’ll watch or for how long, because (as I’ve said many times) debates make me very, very tense. And of course, tonight’s debate has the potential for extreme tension – as well as extreme entertainment, I suppose, for a person with a lighter attitude than mine.
Feel free to comment here – before, during, and after.
“Debate Bingo” cards
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2020/09/your-handy-dandy-debate-guide.php
MSM is doing what they do best. around 7 p.m. they said that if Trump doesn’t do well tonight that he’ll lose the election. Tonight is make or break it for Trump according to The Experts, with them referring to the polls. The Experts then commented on Biden where they presented him as a dignified man who will avoid personal shots unlike Trump who may questions his physical and mental health. Biden will come at Trump for his handling of COVID and his taxes.
I suggest not being overconfident. The bar for Biden is quite low.
Who watches this stuff and still has no idea who they want to vote for. I never have watched a debate going all the way back to Nixon – JFK. The media at this time has such little ability to create a change in view points and all the media money spent by the left is just annoying the folks who are already on their side. I will read about this fiasco in the morning, good evening and blessings to us one and all.
Well, 5 minutes of this and I’m out. The two are trying to talk over each other and I think this is going to be a mess. (I haven’t watched a presidential debate live in ages – is this par for the course these days?)
Yes, the moment when Biden started to say two hundred mil- and then corrected himself got a laugh out of me, but I don’t think the rest of the night is going to be worth it for such cheap thrills.
Good night, OldTexan.
What Phillips said. This is just a mess. Wallace needs to keep both under control. I’ll give it a bit longer but if it’s just them talking over each other for 90 minutes it’s unwatchable.
Remember the Biden-Ryan debate. Talking over is one of the Joe’s strengths and Trump is no slouch either.
It’s a good rope-a-dope strategy for Biden, who just has to emerge from this without gibbering or drooling or losing consciousness to be declared the victor.
“Wallace needs to keep both under control.”
He’ll do whatever his DS handlers require.
That DJT agreed to let him be moderator was a bad omen.
It should always be a panel.
Not watching but saw this comment:
Fox credibility is already in the toilet with Donna Brazile on the panel.
I give the first round to Biden. Trump was too interruptive and didn’t look presidential.
Well, 5 minutes of this and I’m out. The two are trying to talk over each other and I think this is going to be a mess.
Me, too. Trump is too argumentative but I can’t watch his speeches either.
I never have watched a debate going all the way back to Nixon – JFK.
OldTexan: I get you. But I will say it’s a trip to go back and watch the Nixon-Kennedy debates. Here’s the first:
–“Kennedy-Nixon First Presidential Debate, 1960”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbrcRKqLSRw
Compared to today’s hi-tech debates, this one looks like it was staged in a high school gymnasium. Nixon and JFK are adorably earnest and polite. JFK sounds like a Republican.
I give the second round to Trump as he finished strong
I turned it off which is really too bad as this is not doing Trump any good at all and is actually hurting him. Welcome to the Workers Paradise come the end of January.
You don’t have to like Trump to vote for Trump.
Heh.
From Melissa Mackenzie
What’s wrong with Biden’s hand? Why is he gripping a pen?
Parkinson’s? Stopping the tremor? What’s going on?
Commenter: Biden receiving prescribed low-level electroshock treatment through pen device.
physicsguy,
I don’t think it’s hurting Trump. This isn’t changing any Pro-Trump minds and it isn’t changing any NeverTrump minds. It’s a circus but minds were already made up.
It’ll come down to the final 30 min.
Can Biden stay alert?
Trump can.
Wallace is worse than I expected; and I expected him to be bad.
Biden is doing ok; but is not pressed. So,he can look cool.
“If I am elected I have a plan”.
Really?
Trump is letting his temper get away from him.
Biden is flat out lying about the economy and his son
JimNorCal on September 29, 2020 at 9:45 pm said:
It’ll come down to the final 30 min.
Can Biden stay alert?
Good point,. Wallace is doing as expected.
Old flyer I agree with you on his temper
Biden isn’t *that* bad. Neither sound brilliant, both arguing and interrupting and going off on tangents, but Biden doesn’t sound completely lost and confused. He’s keeping up.
Wallace is constantly putting Trump on the defensive; and then he cuts him off repeatedly. I know I lost my temper. But Trump needs to keep his.
Trump needs to call Wallace out; and remind him that he will not debate two at once. He did at first, but then let it go.
He also needs to force Biden to answer some questions.
Biden consistently says Trump lies; Trump needs to challenge him to put up or shut up.
For race I call it a draw. Because trump pivoted to law enforcement. He never mentioned about record unemployment for minority. I call that an unforced error
Fractal, on “It’s a circus but minds were already made up.”
I doubt it.
Oldflyer, on “Trump is letting his temper get away from him”.
True, and it plays into Wallace’s hands, to whine about a slew of DJT’s interruptions.
Wallace has far too much power.
When you (DJT) interrupt much, keep it to “False… false… false… false.”
Trump is hurting himself with the pejorative attacks on Biden – he rolled them out too early, and out of context. Calling up old Joe’s college standing is just bad.
He ought to be exhorting people to check the facts themselves, check his accomplishments themselves, and decide for themselves. No candidate ever does this.
Both are shouting over each other, interrupting too much; It’s like the CNN / MSNBC talking heads format when everyone yells over each other and you can’t make anything out. Trump is interrupting so much that he loses the opportunity to interrupt with a devastating effect – like in 2016 when he cut in on Hillary and said “..because you’d be in jail”.
So it’s too boring, listening to the CNN Yell-O-Matic format, I’ve gone back to my office and left my wife watching.
On the one hand, I’m frustrated with POTUS for his inability to hold his temper.
On the other hand, I can appreciate that he hasn’t punched Chris Wallace in the face. Because I can’t say I could stand up there and not hit the guy. What a loathsome little toad of a man. He’s jumping in to correct or “fact check” Trump repeatedly while giving Biden cover.
In 2012, Candy Crowley only really interfered once.
trump did very well on why vote for me. Wallace is definitely not pressing Biden on some of his out right lies
“Wallace is constantly putting Trump on the defensive; and then he cuts him off repeatedly.”
As should’ve been utterly expected.
“In 2012, Candy Crowley only really interfered once.”
Then why did DJT not push for her, instead of
a shill for the Swamp?
Well, this debate did one thing. It created a bad atmosphere in my house. My wife is appalled at my language.
Very disappointed in Trump. He needs to get it together. Biden managed to look like he is in control, even though he never said anything definitive.
I think all Trump had to do was look Presidential and challenge Biden to prove some of his garbage. But, unfortunately, he cannot restrain himself when goaded.
Somehow the Debate Commission always finds a weasel to moderate these things.
The media and Democrats will be ecstatic.
Hopefully, someone will convince Trump to come off of the “Slo Joe” routine for the time being because it won’t sell. We will see if this was a one off by Biden; but, people won’t buy that he can’t hold his own for now. Trump needs to discipline his message on what he has done, and what he plans, and deliver it cogently and coherently.
Perino on Fox just made a point, that at times DJT was interrupting Biden, when the latter seemed poised to fumble one yard from Paydirt.
Oldflyer,
My wife shocked me. She’s no fan of Trump, especially his Tweeting and method of giving speeches. Not a fan like I am. She voted for him reluctantly in 2016 and plans to again.
But when she saw how angry I was with Wallace and was Trump’s aggressiveness, her response surprised me. It was that he’s doing the same thing he does with Twitter: he’s doing it because he has to to bypass the gatekeepers.
If he kept his cool, Wallace would have held Biden’s hand all night and they would have rolled over him together. Sadly, the Biden/MSM camp knows that Trump has to da peak up and over them. In their minds, it’s win-win: he shuts up and gets steamrolled or he defends himself and gets called a bully.
Well, “debate” was a mess.
Biden basically said Trump was a zero while offering up pie in the sky govt. programs of the sort that have never worked.
Trump lost his cool too often; did not provide fact based answers to questions or Biden’s comments.
Much talking over each other and yelling.
Waste of time it was.
So my sense. One, Wallace never corrected Biden on his mis statements. The most egregious was him parroting the planted story about calling soldiers losers. And then the Charlottesville white supremicist are fine people lie. That got my ire up. Two, Biden held up. Three, Trump muffed it when he swerved to law enforcement on race relations and never mentioned record low unemployment Four, trump totally pounded it on election integrity and biden lied
Being in debates like this You can forget in the heat of moment. What I would have done when Biden “mis-stated” fact is look at Wallace and ask him to correct Biden. That he must have forgotten about it (subtle dementia dig)
I call this a draw so in that sense Biden won
I’m with Neo: I never watch these insanely misnamed things. But a question for those who did: screaming lefty acquaintance says Trump revealed his support for white supremacy by refusing to condemn it. Or something. Any idea what was actually said/not-said on that?
Best tag line “I did more in 47 months than you did in 47 years”
Mac, he told the proud boys to stand down. He could have said I did already when I called the kkk a terrorist organization in my black platinum plan. But he wanted to get the Antifa question to joe and pivoted too quickly and asked joe to condemn them. But Biden deflected and stated it was not an organized group which is a lie. Then trump or Wallace should have come right back and asked if Biden condemns the ideology of Antifa. That would have pressured him.
Aggie @ 10:19. Your points are right on
I had to turn off with the squabbling. It was horrible on both sides.
Btw, Wallace has always been a “never Trumper” and shows on Fox News Sun. which I used to watch.
I think he’s usually one of the few journalists left. Trump, he just doesn’t like.
The most entertaining part of this, until I turned it off, was Chris Wallace trying to maintain order. Sure he came in expecting trouble, and there were def. some times when he just was completely at a loss. He even laughed a couple times. (and if you could stand back, and forget politics for a min., it may not have been haha funny. But it was absurd)
Wallace’s questions were pretty fair and covered a lot of territory
I JUST WISH TRUMP WOULD DIAL IT DOWN, STOP INTERRUPTING, and make me cringe. Like, someone, please! get the hook.
I am able to turn off all the noise, petty responses- he’s different. And most Trump-haters do not realize he is not like this with foreign heads of state. I’ve never seen him be anything but be respectable and self-controlled. Truth is, I believe policy-wise he is right, has accomplished a lot of good for country, in spite of what would have been insurmountable challenges for others like phony Russia-gate, phony impeachment, the debacle of Kavanaugh’s nomination hearings, corrupt FBI…and a media that are loyal, reliable puppets of the Dems.
Idea of Biden winning scares crap out of me because he definitely is no more than puppet.
Here is an scenario few Americans have contemplated, what if Biden wins and he gives China all of our trade secrets including processors manufacturing secrets, only thing that is giving us a tiny lead over China to China as a repayment for helping him defeat trump? Trump needs to tie Biden and China up and fearmongering this is live and death situation for America and its dominance hang in balance
“I think he’s usually one of the few journalists left.“
I won’t pretend Wallace had an easy job but not pressing Biden on his refusal to answer the filibuster/court packing question and asking a question based on the PROVABLY FALSE “fine people” hoax were completely inexcusable.
Mike
“him parroting the planted story about calling soldiers losers.”
I don’t recall DJT clearly calling out that BS, which would’ve been an interruption worth indulging in.
It was ugly….I hate it when people interrupt and Trump was hateful in that way tonight….but Trump is Trump. I sometimes think about how furious I would be, if I were treated like he has been for four years.
Too bad he didn’t hold his fire more and give Biden enough rope to hang himself. Early on it looked like Biden would shatter from the attacks but then the tide turned.
Newt Gingrich, on Laura just now, said that Telemundo did a poll, and the watchers went for Trump 66% to Biden 34%. If I heard this rightly, it’s tremendous!
Also, it is still true that “antifa.com” takes you directly to “donate to the Biden/Harris campaign” pages.
They both were as dignified as monkeys in a pooh flinging contest.
The best debate summary is from Bill O’Reilly. You have to go about 15 minutes in and then find the starting point. This is the Bill of old before he got content with his “Killing series” I am starting to watch him again.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bill+o'reilly+debate+
Drinking coffee and reading the reviews of the Grumpy Old Men special last night. No surprises at all, it appears Biden was given a smooth ride and Trump was, as expected, treated by the moderator like a zoo keeper throwing chunks of red meat to a lion. Today Trump is making headlines because he had bad manners being interrupted over 30 times and just as he did four years ago in debates Trump was Trump. Negative headlines from the mass media do not hurt Trump, they put is name front and center and lots of us groan and then know we will vote for the person we dislike the least who is Trump.
Jefferson’s reference to the “roiling seas of liberty” is helpful here. Just drawing Biden out of his bunker and into the discussion, the macro take from the debate, redounds to Trump and the side he represents in the pitched battle of political visions that is Election 2020. It will now be difficult for Biden to lie low, a strategy that has worked well for him until last night. If you stir muddy water enough, get it swirling, clarity emerges.
If you stir muddy water enough, get it swirling, clarity emerges. –fghdcp
There’s a Negro Spiritual (I guess you can’t use that label anymore), which may go back to the Underground Railroad, as well as John 5:4, “For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.”
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Wade in the water
Wade in the water
Children wade, in the water
God’s gonna trouble the water
–Eva Cassidy, “Wade in the Water”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-hKDYQ6F54
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Love that song and Eva.
I think of this song when I am disturbed about current events. I hope all that is being stirred up is prelude to the healing to come.
huxley: