'How you doing, man?': Joe Biden greeted President Trump at the start of their first debate, where they adhered to social-distancing protocols by not shaking hands. President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden participate in their first 2020 presidential campaign debate held on the campus of the Cleveland Clinic at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, September 29, 2020.REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
Here are some quick takes from tonight.
I hope this is the last debate that Mike Wallace ever moderates. He was awful. As moderators go. If he is not the worse, he is close to it.
Presidential Democrat candidate Biden did not collapse. But I found his demeanour oily and condescending. When he said "Will you shut up, man" at President Trump. That took me back. This is someone who is easily prone to anger. The racist jab is also not going to help him. His supporters probably loved these remarks and jabs, but it runs contrary to the reassuring Uncle Joe image that he has projected to the public in the past few months. Being and acting like Trump is not going to win him any new voters. Not answering about packing the court will raise some eyebrows. His response on Covid-19 was not reassuring, nor how to re-open schools. But what hurt him was when he was asked about calling Democrat mayors/governors and telling them to stop the rioting. Saying he's not an elected person, not an office holder....despite saying just 10 minutes earlier that he was the Democratic Party. Yeah. That is going to hurt him. Violence and crime is one of the three or four top issues for most Americans. They want to be reassured that this ongoing mayhem is going to be stopped. Joe Biden certainly did not deliver on that.
President Trump was also overly angry and aggressive. But I know that is what the base wants. I would not have focused my attention on Hunter Biden. I would have focused on the ongoing lawlessness in places like Seattle and Portland. The race questions, when he could have talked about record low black and Hispanic and women unemployment he talked about law and order. He is also responsible for prison and sentencing reform. This is a big issue among minorities, and President Trump did not push it. Big mistake. He also did not mention the peace deals in the Middle East. He owns it. Maybe he will bring it up in the foreign policy debate? In his rallies there is a certain energy that he projects which wins him converts. He did not bring that energy tonight.
So will anything change from tonight's debate. There was a side of Joe Biden that was revealed tonight that I do not think will appeal to those voters who are looking to vote for someone other than President Trump. They needed to be reassured, and Joe Biden certainly did not deliver on that tonight. I can see these voters staying home. President Trump was President Trump. He will not lose any voters, but he did not gain any tonight. But he could have done better.
