If you like to spend your night being tied up and beaten with bamboo reeds then last night was for you. Last night was the first Presidential debate of this election season. Leading into the event I had several discussions with some friends of mine and we laid out our strategies for each candidate. For President Trump we agreed he needed to hammer points about his record as President, limit interruptions and let Biden talk himself into corners, and most of all not seem like he was beating up on a deteriorating old man. For Biden we thought he needed to come into the debate and prove to people he was not in mental decline, solidify his positions on major topics, and present a more presidential appearance. So when it came time for the show I was excited. As most of you know I am not a fan of most liberal ideas and tend to lean toward conservative thought. I did not vote for Trump in 2016 because I was unsure how his brash behavior would work in world politics. Since he was elected I have tried my best to overlook his personality and focus on the policies and executive orders he has been passing and promoting. Based only on these things I can say he has done a lot of great things for our country. Unemployment was the lowest of all time prior to the pandemic across all races. Our economy was the highest it has ever been. Middle and low class Americans saw an over $5000 increase in their take home pay due to his tax cuts, while during Obama/Biden's 8 years it was only a little over $1000. He negotiated new trade deals with China, Canada/Mexico, and others which gave us a much better position than at any previous time. He negotiated peace deals in the middle east between Israel and multiple Muslim states. He reduced our troop levels in all of the war zones and was the first President not to enter any new conflicts despite reports he was going to start WW3 with Iran. He nominated and had two conservative leaning Supreme Court justices confirmed and will have a 3rd before election day. So from a conservative perspective I support his agenda and the things he has accomplished.
With all of that in mind I reemphasize that his strategy should have been to hit points from his record and avoid coming off like an asshole. Unfortunately he interrupted from the very start, talked over his time limit, was combative with the moderator, and of course lowered himself into name calling. He did every single thing that my friends and I hoped he would avoid. He did not present himself like a confident and accomplished President but more like a braggart and arrogant bully. Once again the negative personality traits over shadowed his accomplishments. He did however make some good points. He asked Biden if he would pack the Supreme court if he won to which Biden replied "I am not going to answer that question". He pointed out that Antifa was a hateful organization which is destroying US cities and Biden responded with "Antifa is an idea not an organization", which everyone knows is false. He attacked Hunter Biden and his ties to Russian, Ukrainian, and Chinese groups which paid him millions of dollars. Biden's response of "That has been disproven" and "That is just false" just don't hold water. Over all Trump made good solid attacks but they will fall flat due to the excessive rants and attacks throughout the debate.
Now VP Biden also failed to meet most of our ideas for success. He at times wondered in his thoughts and the moderator had to remind him of what they were discussing, he would be stumbling over his thoughts and was saved by Trump and his interruptions on several occasions, and he failed to solidify his positions. He did however seem to be the more adult candidate. He approached the debate from a more Presidential position. There were only a couple of times he lashed out back at Trump and came off weaker. Biden hammered on the Covid-19 response which was an expected tactic but fell short due to the fact it is a worldwide pandemic and every country has struggled. He did a good job of debate tactics. When he would be interrupted he would stop talking and then request the time back from the moderator. At one point Biden was asked if he called the Democratic Mayors and Governors to stop the violence in cities like Portland and Seattle to which he responded "I am not in elected office" which I thought was a cop out due to the fact he called himself the "Democratic party" on one of the first questions. He rejected the idea he supports the green new deal but a few sentences later said "The Green New Deal will pay for itself". He failed to solidify positions as he tried to position himself between the moderate and radical left. He also had good attacks but I think had way too many times he rambled and failed to get to the point.
At the end of the night I feel like neither candidate "won" the debate. Biden had a much better performance than many of us expected and Trump was well Trump. I watched the aftermath on Fox News, CNN and MSNBC. Fox rallied behind Trump saying he was aggressive and showed great leadership. CNN "fact checked" the debate but only Trumps comments and then called him a liar. MSNBC also fact checked but seemed to rely on the Biden got the best of Trump line. All in all every station said things like "That was the most chaotic debate I have seen" or "That was a shit show". I absolutely agree with both of those statements. I would summarize with this, I thought they were both childish with the name calling, Trump more so than Biden. I think they both talked over each other and the moderator too much, more so Trump than Biden. No new revelations were brought to light and all the expected talking points were hit by both candidates. I do not think any minds or votes were changed with this 90 min debate. I also feel like Normal people who are not into politics will most likely not watch any future debates due to this being so chaotic.
When it comes down to it both candidates failed to win the debate but it is America who lost the most. Welcome to the Shit Show.
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