I filed yesterday’s column about an hour after the debate ended. I did not look at any analysis because I want to give you my opinion, unaffected by what others say. I also like to post fast because people will read one, two or three pieces, but not 10. So getting there first is important, even at the sacrifice of depth.
Had I listened to the talking heads, the column would have had to be different. Such as:
Democratic leaders are in a panic over President Joe Biden’s poor performance and this will ignite chatter about how they must dump him as their candidate. After all, there has been no convention naming him as the candidate.
On the other hand, he has been selected by millions of Democratic voters, and if they throw him overboard, how can they claim that Donald J. Trump is the threat to democracy when Democrats are discarding votes?
That doesn’t mean they won’t try to get him to step down voluntarily.
Stray thoughts:
- Aside from “democracy is threatened,” which I never took as a serious talking point, abortion is the Democrats’ singular best issue. Biden was unable to harness it effectively.
- In contrast, Trump’s favorite talking was was illegal immigration, which he shoe-horned into many of his answers, whether or not it fit the question.
- Given how important voters rank crime and guns, they were barely mentioned.
- CNN commentator (and former Marxist) Van Jones had it about right when he said Biden was right on the issues but offered an ineffective performance, while Trump lied, but did so effectively.
- This was the result of a week’s preparation by Biden?
- At the post-debate party, Biden suddenly seemed alive. Unlike how he dragged his ass on to the debate stage, he practically trotted at the party, waved and was engaged with the people in the room.
- Prior to the debate, MAGA people, starting with Trump, said Biden would be “jacked up.” Just the opposite was true. If there were drugs, they were downers.
- I see the Inquirer editorial board said Biden won the debate, by a small margin. Won? Really? As I wrote the other day, who “won” will be decided by three groups of people. The Inquirer falls into the first group, of anti-Trump mainstream media, despite the presence of a couple of house conservatives. The real people who saw the debate felt Biden lost, and the people using social media will also feel Biden lost, because he had more visible stumbles than Trump.
- The business about the golf match should be an SNL sketch.
- Democrats should draft Josh Shapiro,
- A week before the debate Democratic strategist James Carville predicted Trump would not show up for the debate. He wins the prize for the dumbest prediction of the week.
I agree with everything with the exception of Josh Shapiro , not ready for prime time. Remember, Josh is most about Josh. He’s the only politician who I met on one day and received a campaign request virtually the next. Perhaps one day he’ll be ready. He’s got skeletons.
G-d bless the United States…please. We need divine intervention to present a genuine, viable, credible candidate; one who will lead and not be wed to poll reading.
Divine intervention from whom? Jesus? God? Buddha? Allah? Muhammed? Vishnu? Brahma? Shiva? You’ll have to be more specific.
As a Pastafarian we should also include The Giant Flying Spaghetti Monster. Where all are welcome into the loving embrace of His Noodly Appendage.
Crazy against senile. Unfortunately crazy is going to win.
Crazy will fix the busted sewage pipe/southern border that’s been spewing unwanted waste materials into our country for the past three years, not for humanitarian purposes but merely for more filthy Democrat votes, that was instituted by senile!
That’s a tough call, to get somebody who is locally known to voters, but is practically unknown to the rest of the voters in the country. It woul be like climbing Mt,Everest. Not impossible, but preparing from maybe a nonth from now, pretty unlikely.
Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton were unknown governors
Not 75 days before the election.
Give or take with time to get a campaign going.
“Aside from “democracy is threatened,” – You mean other than Trump’s statement that he will be a dictator on day one, he will use the FBI and DOJ to punish his political enemies, he will shut down any protests against him which violates two Constitutional amendments, and that American Jews who don’t vote Republican are disloyal. You’re right, these are not the words of a dictator.
Biden’s ego and the DNC are bigger threat to democracy than Trump at this moment.
Remember it was their fingers on the scale in 2016 with Hillary Clinton that caused Trumps victory. Hillary still blames misogyny and the Democrats have failed to embrace their error in 2016 and continue to shove their anointed candidates at us.
The RNC is equally ignorant in embracing Trump, but that is not the topic.
There is time to fix this.
Reagan blew a presidential debate and dropped seven points in polling. Bob Dole had big debate victory. John Kerry (won) his debate with Dubya. Romney had a strong debate and “erased” Obama’s lead. Take these things with a grain of salt.
Freeze–can’t disagree with you, but by the same token, what it seems was most on display last night, and cannot improve over time, is the age issue. If his capacity is diminished anymore, the United States will have a real problem that it doesn’t need. Don’t get me wrong, I think Biden was what we needed in 2020; now we need him to voluntarily (or nudged to) step aside. Let the convention pick a stronger candidate. The stakes are too high to stick with him.
Mark,
I could not agree with you any more. No matter where anyone may stand ideologically, the age and mental acuity issue is real and cannot be hidden any longer. First you had the report from the special prosecutor that was slammed by the white house and Democratic Party. Then a recent editorial from a national paper that was slammed by the same. Now we saw with our own eyes.
The White House and President Biden handlers cannot erase what we saw last night. No one won last night and i am not referring to Biden or Trump.
Biden speaks the truth regarding the threat to democracy, but he is wrong on the culprits, the real threat are the two parties that shove these unqualified candidates at us.
Two unqualified candidates, for different reasons:
-Trump is dishonest and has no moral compass;
– Biden has become too old and mentally slow on his feet.
For the sake of all us citizens, we need 2 better qualified candidates.
Speak for yourself. Trump may be a bull-shitter, and I’d concede that, but these days he ain’t dishonest. In fact, he’s brutally honest and that’s one of his biggest attributes. That’s why we love him and the gaslit, media educated, unhinged TDS sufferers utterly despise him. Sometimes, truth hurts, doesn’t it?
I could not watch but 2/3 of the debate. This frail old man floundering about, incoherently at times. It was painful. What are Jill and the Dems thinking??? It confirmed all of my suspicions as I thought he had really, really declined after the last election. And I was suspicious that he did not sit for interviews or presentations where he did not have the benefit of a teleprompter. Someone needs to talk sense to him compassionately. Our country, not Joe’s ego, is at stake.
Might the commentary be akin to “beating a dead horse, until the puss runs down its side?”
Biden is a terrible president. How stupid could you be to vote for Biden after these last 4years. They lowered the bar in this debate for him and it wasn’t low enough. If your fair and honest you know Trump was a better than average president. Biden has put national security and everyone’s life in jeopardy with his open border policies. His foreign policy is a disaster and inflation is hurting everyone.
Why do Biden’s constant lies always get a pass? He was still claiming the well-debunked “good people on both sides” lie and bragged that no military got killed onhis watch. And while he didn’t claim 9% inflation last night, he did several times earlier.
He should be held to the same standard as any of his political opponents.
In my previous post I pointed to this lie. You can go look it up. No passed here.
There is no shame in getting old, in getting slow, in age-related mental decline. Joe Biden is all of that and more, and for the good of the nation should step down NOW, before the election.
I’m not a Shapiro fan given the fact that he allowed Larry Krasner to keep his job as DA in Philly. He was the one who could have removed him. The city mayor doesn’t have the authority. Meanwhile, Philly suffers from looters and no one gets arrested. The violence and gun fires are ridiculous.
Excellent point! It should’ve been the very first thing on his, Shapiro, agenda upon being inaugurated! Great post!
I am no fan of Let ‘em Loose Larry, but I don’t like either the General Assembly or the governor reversing the will of the people who elected the clown.
Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama are the only people I can think of who would be able to enter the race at this late stage and have a chance of beating Trump.
Michelle Obama is not qualified to be a dogcatcher, much less a president of the US. And Hillary lost to DT, as you may recall.
I didn’t say Michelle was “qualified.” I wrote that she has the best chance of beating Trump, who is absolutely not qualified.
Jake Tapper “won” the debate. Terrific, even handed and finally doing journalistic work that he was hired to do. Donna Bash a close second, Trump is like a out of control wind up toy, but the format suited him well keeping a structure which Trump does best in controlled situation.