Democrats were hoping for a knockout blow coming into this debate. After all, it was supposedly structured to favor Biden with no audience to side with candidates. Just the two of them on stage facing two CNN personalities in Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, whom Trump frequently rails against. Yet, Biden stumbled repeatedly, couldn't complete his thoughts during the short time segments and failed to land anything more than glancing jabs as Trump danced around him with his many lies. Biden was unable to effectively counter them and CNN refused to fact check Trump's absurd claims.
I wouldn't think twice about a debate like this except there will be a lot of gloating from the Trump camp for the next few weeks, as the audience scorecard gave Trump a resounding victory. This will be pretty hard for Democrats to swallow and already there are calls for Biden to step aside for a younger candidate like Gavin Newsom. If he did that would be admitting defeat. The best thing to do is move on, put this debacle behind him and be better prepared for the second debate, assuming Trump is willing to "defend his crown." He will savor this pyrrhic victory.
It didn't seem like Biden even wanted to be there. He functions much better when confronting issues, not having to deflect questions obviously designed to trip him up. Tapper and Bash focused more on his presumed failings - Afghanistan, inflation, Gaza - than they did on his successes. You knew they would, anxious to finally confront Biden after dodging the press for so long. But, his campaign advisors wanted Joe to confront Donald, hoping to end this campaign this summer.
Instinctively, I think Joe knew he shouldn't give Donald any air. Like a fire, he would just spread. He did just that with pundits weighing in all around the world, once again harping on Joe's age and seeming inability to handle tough questions. It didn't matter that Trump dodged similar questions, resorting to his staple falsehoods. He looked energetic, which was all that mattered in the public eye. It was a calculated move by the Biden campaign. Let's call it the "silver bullet" strategy. Unfortunately, it failed to hit its mark, reminding me of how badly Podesta handled Hillary's campaign in 2016. You have to play to Biden's strengths, not his weaknesses. He has long been a poor debater. No amount of coaching is going to change that.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has been laying low, refusing to come down one way or another on Trump's immunity defense in his pending federal trials. These cases should both be in full swing by now but the Supreme Court has spent more than 100 days mulling over Trump's immunity defense, despite a lower federal appellate court having thoroughly examined the issue and came back with a unanimous decision that no president is above the law. We saw how his 34 convictions in New York weighed heavy on the public's mind. Guilty verdicts on his role in the insurrection and harboring classified documents would have turned that ripple effect into adamant calls for him to drop out of the election. There are ominous signs the conservative court may give Trump substantial leeway here, which would greatly aid his campaign. As it is, there is little chance the trials will take place before November, especially the one in Florida where Judge Aileen Cannon has gone out of her way to delay it.
Instead here he is, no doubt soon to enjoy a major bump in the polls thanks to this debate. It's amazing to me we are even discussing Trump after what he did January 6, but to many Americans that is ancient history. Their biggest concern is the quality of leadership the two candidates project and Biden came out with a miserable 14 percent after the debate. Whereas 36 percent felt Trump better able to lead the nation, most of it coming from his steadfast supporters.
Biden had a really good opportunity to rally Americans behind him last night and failed. Instead, he breathed new life into Trump's campaign by giving a weak-hearted performance. His advisors said he was suffering from a cold but it sounded like he was pretty flustered on stage, unable to deliver his statements within the allotted time and seemed to forget the punchlines on numerous occasions or garble them in such way that they lost all their punch.
It's embarrassing really. We know Biden is a good leader. He's shown it throughout his tenure and delivered a fine State of the Union address back in February, where he parried the jabs thrown at him from the Republican peanut gallery with ease. Many expected a similar performance last night. Instead, Biden showed his age, which has been haunting him like the grim reaper throughout his campaign. We will hear plenty more about this in the weeks to come.
Joe really has no choice now but to hit the campaign trail with vigor to make up for his lackluster performance and erase the doubts that emerged last night. He can no longer rely on surrogates. Everyone wants to see if Joe still has it. If not, this election may very well turn in Trump's favor, as most Americans base their opinions on what they see on stage. We have become an entertainment-based culture. If you can't deliver the punchlines then get off the stage.
tRump has scored a number of points against Biden because of the latter's voluntary stupidity: an environmental disaster takes place in East Palestine, Ohio which is caused by Republican deregulation under tRump. Biden happily and stupidly takes the blame for it and refuses to ascribe it to tRump as he should have done. Biden adheres to tRump's withdrawal timetable from Afghanistan. But right wingers blame Biden for losing the war even though it was tRump who chose to withdraw. Again, Biden stood by like a sissy and happily accepted the blame even though he did not cause the loss. tRump did nothing about the southern border, allowed immigrants to enter there and through the northern border as well as through airports and seaports. Biden does the same and then he gets blamed for the immigration crisis. Why the hell doesn't the idiot and the rest of those moronic idiots in the Democratic party stand up and assert that it is the Repukeblicons who are responsible for all this???
ReplyDeleteThen there is the problem you and I have been arguing about re Ukraine & Russia. Nobody I know wants the USA to send any money to Zelenskyy. Not one person I know says this. Same with Israel. Thousands of Americans are dying due to lack of health care and homelessness. But what does that idiot Biden do? He sends $100 billion overseas when it is needed here. He happily applauds Zionist genocide on Palestinians even though Netanyahu deserves to hang for is crimes.
Even though Biden's work on the economy has been commendable, he refuses to admit that it is profit maximization that has fueled inflation - he is just too timid and too stupid to point this out. The rest of the Democrats remain silent as well.
Bottom line: don't be too surprised if repukeblicons win in November. While they have done nothing to win the election, the Democrats stupidly are giving away the store. Once the USA goes to Hell, the rest of the world will follow.
Got a story that has circulated here in the Twin Cities: a homeless woman walks into a dumpster because she has nowhere else to go (she reportedly had emotional problems). She fell asleep in it and did not awaken when sanitation came by. The garbage collectors dumped her body into incineration and she was vaporized. That's what happens when someone can't afford or have access to medical care and to decent housing. People then blame Biden for refusing to help this type of problem while prioritizing matters overseas that are of no concern to us.
ReplyDeleteAgain, bottom line - don't be too surprised if tRump and the Pukes win again.
My biggest takeaway was seeing how much Biden didn't want to be there. This isn't his format. He admitted as such the next day at a campaign rally, where he gave a very eloquent summation of the night,
ReplyDeletehttps://www.yahoo.com/news/know-job-defiant-biden-rejects-180818700.html
This was an event orchestrated by his campaign chief, who should be fired. Otherwise, he risks the same fate as Hillary who put all her trust in the equally horrible John Podesta only to lose key states, which he took for granted. Biden needs to hit the campaign trail with gusto, focusing on his successful domestic record, which the media refuses to acknowledge, and hammer home just how bad another Trump presidency would be. You just have to look at Project 2025 which his campaign is promoting.
Now I hear that Biden's explanation is that he was exhausted from a cold and from his trips overseas. Well now -- if he had only bothered to deal with our problems at home, he would not have been in an exhausting trip overseas dealing with matters that are no concerns of ours. Further, he would not have been exposed to those naughty germs and would not have given away our money -- money that we need here.
DeleteLike I said before, all this is just a matter of choice and of stupidity.