Last night was the second and final presidential debate between President Trump and former Vice President Biden. Overall, it was far more measured in tone and richer in substance than the first debate, and it accomplished what President Trump needed to do: reassure squishy independents and critical undecided voters that he’s not just a loose cannon, but can actually govern, and govern well.
I also found the moderator to be surprisingly fair. The questions obviously were slanted in favor of the Democrats, as these questions always are (again, who cares about climate change anymore?), but she gave President Trump the opportunity to respond to criticisms, and also had some tough questions for Biden.
President Trump did what he should have done in the first debate: he gave Biden the rope with which to hang himself. It was Biden who brought up China and Ukraine, which opened the door for Trump to attack Hunter Biden’s lucrative salaries from foreign companies and governments—the result of Biden’s influence peddling.
Joe Biden was also sloppy, and his alleged senility and dementia began to show as the debate wore on. He oddly compared President Trump to Abraham Lincoln—and intended it as an attack! Considering Lincoln is widely one of the most beloved presidents in American history, that’s a strange attack. Additionally, Biden referred to the Proud Boys as the “Poor Boys,” which instantly spawned a thousand memes.
Not to make a mountain out of a gaffe hill, but isn’t that the most elderly slip-up imaginable? Biden is ancient enough that he probably remembers some street-corner gang/doo-wop group called the “Poor Boys.” In his addled mind, “Poor Boys” probably does sound like an intimidating gang of Italians or the like.
While the major network flash polls are showing a Biden win, this focus group with Frank Luntz—himself a critic of Trump—indicates that Trump wooed undecided voters big time (H/T to my brother for this video). These are undecided voters from swing States, so their overwhelming decision to vote for Trump speaks volumes. The fact so many of them were willing to state that support publicly is also huge. I strongly suspect there are massive numbers of Trump voters the polls aren’t picking up, because stating public support for Trump will get you punched.
All in all, it was a clean win for Trump, and one he needed with just a little over a week to Election Day. I’m cautiously optimistic that his performance and his demeanor put to rest fears about his “decorum” and such.
To my conservative friends who don’t like Trump because he’s mean or bullish, I don’t think you can convincingly make that argument anymore. Regardless of the President’s personal character, he has gotten results. If he were Mitt Romney with the same outcomes (and, of course, Mitt Romney would never have accomplished what Trump has), we’d be lauding him as the greatest president in American history (and, seriously, Trump is clearly the best president in the modern era).
Put aside your hang-ups. The future of the country depends on it.
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I thought the format of the last debate was excellent. It forced President Trump to rein in his enthusiasm (which I love) and answer questions more directly. I did catch him out, however; he had previously said that his health plan is just about finished in its creation but last night he said the opposite – like it hadn’t even been created yet. That was a little unnerving and I wonder how many people picked up on that.
To frack or not to frack; that is the question. We already know from countries like the UK that wind is very much inferior and solar is also. The Green Dream is exactly that until scientists and engineers come up with another solution.
When I voted for President Trump in 2016, I had a question mark. When I voted for President Trump in 2020, I had an exclamation point.
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I missed the healthcare thing, but, honestly, healthcare is probably the least interesting topic to me. I understand how it takes on more immediacy as we get older, but at this point, I’m fairly convinced it’s not something we’re going to fix anytime soon.
Fracking is amazing, and the wave of the future. The best “green” energy is nuclear. Solar panels are great on the roof of your house, but they’re not viable to provide power needs on a large scale.
I agree completely with the exclamation point. Make it three for me. TRUMP!!!
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I’m a bit of a contrarian here, you say, “President Trump did what he should have done in the first debate”. I disagree, With Wallace moderating (whatshername last night was pretty good, considering), he had to do exactly as he did, or he would have been shouted down from two directions. We’ve seen that happen, find the tape of Biden-Ryan from 2012. Biden ran all over Ryan with help from the moderator. Granted Biden has lost a lot of steps in the last eight years, but he would have done it to Trump as well if Trump had let him.
The reason we had a decent debate last night was that everyone, even Creepy Slow Joe, knew that he couldn’t run over the President.
Healthcare might be important but gosh it’s boring, nearly as bad as climate change. Foreign policy should have been the focus, that’s actually in the President’s purview legitimately, as opposed to all the dross that ought to be at the state level.
I’ll call your three exclamation points and raise you two.
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That’s an excellent point, NEO, and one I had not considered: had Trump not run roughshod over Biden in the first debate, he would not have been able to be calmer in this debate. Wallace is definitely a rat, and his anti-Trump bonafides were on clear display in that first debate.
Healthcare and climate change are the biggest snorefests in the world. At least the “Poor Boys” gaffe livened things up a bit.
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Wallace ranks somewhere between a weasel and a snake in the grass. They really are. Yep, that was funny. I don’t really do more than chuckle, You and I have done enough public speaking to allow a bit of slack, but I do laugh.
The funny thing from last night is that apparently a bunch of leftists think Trump said that illegal kids rode in on furry four-legged coyotes. Even for them, that a bit rich.
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