Trump Wins Second Debate. Will It Be Enough?

 

The second debate was a completely different animal from the first. President Trump and former Vice President Biden were able to present their answers, arguments, and attacks without constant interruptions from each other or the moderator.

The new muted mics rule worked quite well and we should expect to see it in future debates. When one candidate answered a question, the other’s mic was muted. After both provided their statements, the mics were left open for that lively partisan bickering we’ve come to expect.

This worked greatly to Donald Trump’s favor.

The President vastly improved his performance, holding Joe Biden’s feet to the fire while maintaining his cool. Biden turned in the journeyman performance one would expect from a frontrunner. His job was to remain upright and not commit some outlandish gaffe, a feat he achieved. And yet…

That tricky Trump fellow laid several traps and Joe eagerly jumped right into them.

To start the debate, Trump hit Biden hard on the growing “laptop from hell” controversy. Biden’s answers were either unsatisfactory or downright deceptive; that will come back to bite him. Since about 20 minutes were dedicated to the issue, the press will have a hard time maintaining their embargo.

Impressively, Trump focused on the Biden family’s lucrative arrangements with China, Russia, and Ukraine in a relaxed manner. His “more in sadness than in anger” tone raised question after question without the need to bang the table. Trump concern-trolled the hell out of Biden and it worked like a charm.

He also got Joe to deny that he ever wanted ban fracking, although we saw him say just that in the Democratic primary debates. Trump has the video and promised to release it yet again to our ever-incurious press.

When Biden blasted Trump over putting children in cages, POTUS kept reminding him that Obama created them. “Who built the cages, Joe?” Trump kept asking. Biden had no response.

Biden’s worst moment was when Trump actually got him to admit that he will end the US oil industry. Later, Joe tried to massage that promise but Trump highlighted it repeatedly, calling out voters in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, and Oklahoma to pay close attention to what that will mean for their jobs. Let a thousand ads bloom.

In addition to creating headaches for himself, Biden was remarkably inconsistent. Angry one moment, fake laughing the next, marble-mouthing convoluted answers. His energy level waxed and waned over the 90-minute affair, while Trump always appeared in command.

Moderator Kristen Welker of NBC wasn’t as dreadful as Chris Wallace or Savannah Guthrie, but she was faster to interrupt Trump than Biden, especially when the President was on a roll. According to the numbers, there were 24 interTrumps to two for Biden. And, of course, all the questions came from the left.

By the end of Thursday’s debate, the former vice president was looking at his watch, a move that doomed George H.W. Bush’s re-election (at least according to the press at the time). It was a visual reminder that Biden is playing a Prevent Defense and hoping to run out the clock.

A lot can happen in the second half of the fourth quarter. Tonight, Trump was moving down the field.

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  1. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    DrewInWisconsin, Man of Consta… (View Comment):

    Umbra Fractus (View Comment):

    Sweezle (View Comment):

    Trump won the second debate. Kristen Welker did a better job than I expected. Biden talking about “transitioning from the oil industry” and his earlier admissions of wanting to ban fracking were devastating. Even without the Biden Family Corruption with China & the Ukraine Biden loses.

    Biden: where’s this guy from? Trump: Queens

    The Twits [sic] are saying that Trump lied because he accused Biden of wanting to ban fossil fuels when he really said “transition from.”

    When the government says “transition” they mean “ban slowly.”

    Biden said last night that his goal was to end reliance on fossil fuels by 2025.

    I mean, that might have sounded almost plausible 20 years ago. But 2025 is right around the corner, and that simply will not — cannot — happen. That statement by Biden (like so many of his statements) was a nonsense slogan. And like so much of what he said last night, it was what he had to say to retain the approval of the hard left.

    The 2025 Biden mobile:

    How to Make a Car - Wind Car - Very Simple Toy - YouTube

    • #61
  2. ToryWarWriter Coolidge
    ToryWarWriter
    @ToryWarWriter

    Debates dont matter.  Ground game does, and the Republicans spent the last 6 months building one, while the Democrats did a virtual ground game.

    When it comes down to election day this will be a turnout election and I dont think the Democrats despite there polling advantage lose that.  The fact is Republicans dont give a crap about covid.  Democrats are terrified of it.  I think Biden wins the popular vote and trump wins in the battle ground states like last time.

    But yeah the Lap Top is coming a bit to late to do anything with.  Other than probably provide an impeachment opportunity and criminal investigation if I am wrong and Biden wins.

    • #62
  3. Lois Lane Coolidge
    Lois Lane
    @LoisLane

    ToryWarWriter (View Comment):
    The fact is Republicans dont give a crap about covid. Democrats are terrified of it.

    Well, this explains me, but people have spent a long time in early voting lines, so the idea that Democrats are terrified of catching the virus should be qualified. 

    It seems Covid is selective when causing an infection and should be terrifying only in certain settings: in restaurants, at stores, on hiking trails, in classrooms.  When one is doing one’s civic duty via protests or votes, one becomes immune.  (I know that sounds snarky, but I don’t know how else to read the actions!)

    Regardless, my neighbor, who is a lovely person, definitely voted early for Biden.  She told me she stood in line for three hours to cast her ballot earlier this week.  

    (I always vote on Election Day.)

    I think this will be a high turnout election–or participation election per mail-in ballots–for both sides despite Covid. 

    However, I think President Obama found most of his “new” voters.  If he wins, it’s because Trump draws out new people who have not voted in the past to support him.   

    • #63
  4. DrewInWisconsin, Man of Constant Sorrow Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Man of Constant Sorrow
    @DrewInWisconsin

    Apparently, the left is so dumb they didn’t understand the reference to coyotes.

    • #64
  5. cdor Member
    cdor
    @cdor

    Western Chauvinist (View Comment):

    DrewInWisconsin, Man of Consta… (View Comment):

    Umbra Fractus (View Comment):

    Sweezle (View Comment):

    Trump won the second debate. Kristen Welker did a better job than I expected. Biden talking about “transitioning from the oil industry” and his earlier admissions of wanting to ban fracking were devastating. Even without the Biden Family Corruption with China & the Ukraine Biden loses.

    Biden: where’s this guy from? Trump: Queens

    The Twits [sic] are saying that Trump lied because he accused Biden of wanting to ban fossil fuels when he really said “transition from.”

    When the government says “transition” they mean “ban slowly.”

    Biden said last night that his goal was to end reliance on fossil fuels by 2025.

    I mean, that might have sounded almost plausible 20 years ago. But 2025 is right around the corner, and that simply will not — cannot — happen. That statement by Biden (like so many of his statements) was a nonsense slogan. And like so much of what he said last night, it was what he had to say to retain the approval of the hard left.

    The 2025 Biden mobile:

    How to Make a Car - Wind Car - Very Simple Toy - YouTube

    Actually, all the new cars are planned already. They are coal-fired and fracked gas fired electric cars. Zero emissions! Except as Trump pointed out with the wind turbines made by the Chinese, the dirty energy burned to make the turbine negates the turbines carbonless output.

    • #65
  6. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    DrewInWisconsin, Man of Consta… (View Comment):

    Apparently, the left is so dumb they didn’t understand the reference to coyotes.

    Well, that’s embarrassing. 

    • #66
  7. Buckpasser Member
    Buckpasser
    @Buckpasser

    All I heard was that Biden is a great grandfather who needs someone to put his pj’s on for him and that Antifa and BLM will run the country if the dims win.

    • #67
  8. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    cdor (View Comment):
    Except as Trump pointed out with the wind turbines made by the Chinese, the dirty energy burned to make the turbine negates the turbines carbonless output.

    And then there’s the BIG disposal problem:

    https://www.npr.org/2019/09/10/759376113/unfurling-the-waste-problem-caused-by-wind-energy

    So many dirty secrets with “clean” energy.

    • #68
  9. Vance Richards Inactive
    Vance Richards
    @VanceRichards

    DrewInWisconsin, Man of Consta… (View Comment):

    Apparently, the left is so dumb they didn’t understand the reference to coyotes.

    This GA Democrat didn’t get the reference . . .

    So others tried to help her understand

    • #69
  10. Jon1979 Inactive
    Jon1979
    @Jon1979

    Vance Richards (View Comment):

    DrewInWisconsin, Man of Consta… (View Comment):

    Apparently, the left is so dumb they didn’t understand the reference to coyotes.

    This GA Democrat didn’t get the reference . . .

    So others tried to help her understand

    Actual image of Coyote, confronted at night near border tunnel by ICE agents….

    • #70
  11. MichaelKennedy Inactive
    MichaelKennedy
    @MichaelKennedy

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):
    People I have spoken to already believe that the so-called “Hunter Biden laptop” is a Russian plant, and thus a Trump hoax.

    Hilarious.  The willful disregard of the evidence is in keeping with your other posts.

    • #71
  12. DrewInWisconsin, Man of Constant Sorrow Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Man of Constant Sorrow
    @DrewInWisconsin

    MichaelKennedy (View Comment):

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):
    People I have spoken to already believe that the so-called “Hunter Biden laptop” is a Russian plant, and thus a Trump hoax.

    Hilarious. The willful disregard of the evidence is in keeping with your other posts.

    They only believe what the TV tells them to believe.

    • #72
  13. EHerring Coolidge
    EHerring
    @EHerring

    It is an omen…a double bird…Trump will get a second term.

    • #73
  14. Ontheleftcoast Inactive
    Ontheleftcoast
    @Ontheleftcoast

    ToryWarWriter (View Comment):

    Debates dont matter. Ground game does, and the Republicans spent the last 6 months building one, while the Democrats did a virtual ground game.

    When it comes down to election day this will be a turnout election and I dont think the Democrats despite there polling advantage lose that. The fact is Republicans dont give a crap about covid. Democrats are terrified of it. I think Biden wins the popular vote and trump wins in the battle ground states like last time.

    But yeah the Lap Top is coming a bit to late to do anything with. Other than probably provide an impeachment opportunity and criminal investigation if I am wrong and Biden wins.

    The Dems do have several ground games IRL, just not the one your’e thinking of. One is is corrupt voter rolls, another a massive litigation plan, which is intended not only to produce an outright Biden win, but to produce wins in key House races. It is also intended to delay the final vote count in key states; creating popular demand for the elimination of the Electoral College is a long term Democrat goal.

    If the Electoral College can’t get to 270 for either candidate the election goes to the House. Because each state gets one vote, in this event “states with Republican majority” leads “states with a Democrat majority” 26:24, but several states this is only by one or two seats, so flipping a small number of key seat could turn a House-as-Electors vote the Democrat way.

    The stories (currently suppressed by the MSM) of mishandling of ballots by the USPS sowing mistrust will become news in the event of a Biden loss or a contested election, whether they are the result of malice on the part of postal workers or just of a dysfunctional organization.

    Then there is the mob. You could call that part of the Democrat ground game, too.

    • #74
  15. Lois Lane Coolidge
    Lois Lane
    @LoisLane

    MichaelKennedy (View Comment):

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):
    People I have spoken to already believe that the so-called “Hunter Biden laptop” is a Russian plant, and thus a Trump hoax.

    Hilarious. The willful disregard of the evidence is in keeping with your other posts.

    To be fair, Gary is only pointing out what people around him believe to be true, which is not the same thing as truth.

     It is extremely important to not get in a Trump bubble that ignores information about other bubbles.  

    While I am voting for Trump, and Gary isn’t, I appreciate hearing Gary’s point of view… his observations from different circles.  

    Biden talked about Russia for a reason, after all!

    • #75
  16. Vance Richards Inactive
    Vance Richards
    @VanceRichards

    Jon Gabriel, Ed.: By the end of Thursday’s debate, the former vice president was looking at his watch,

    Does he have places to go or is it an iWatch and he is getting texts?

    • #76
  17. Jon1979 Inactive
    Jon1979
    @Jon1979

    Lois Lane (View Comment):

    MichaelKennedy (View Comment):

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):
    People I have spoken to already believe that the so-called “Hunter Biden laptop” is a Russian plant, and thus a Trump hoax.

    Hilarious. The willful disregard of the evidence is in keeping with your other posts.

    To be fair, Gary is only pointing out what people around him believe to be true, which is not the same thing as truth.

    It is extremely important to not get in a Trump bubble that ignores information about other bubbles.

    While I am voting for Trump, and Gary isn’t, I appreciate hearing Gary’s point of view… his observations from different circles.

    Biden talked about Russia for a reason, after all!

    The raw footage of the “60 Minutes” interview Trump released showed the mindset that’s behind Gary’s claim, where Leslie Stahl says the show won’t air anything on Hunter Biden’s laptop because it can’t be verified, after Trump asks her why it can’t be verified. It’s basically a news organization telling the president they can’t verify the emails on the laptop are real because they won’t investigate whether or not the emails on the laptop are real (because they might find out the emails on the laptop are real, and then get the sads).

    It’s a place they don’t want to go, because they’re afraid of what they might find (where any network could grill Tony Bobulinski right now to test the veracity of the emails and his claims that they’re real).

     

    • #77
  18. Django Member
    Django
    @Django

    DrewInWisconsin, Man of Consta… (View Comment):

    Apparently, the left is so dumb they didn’t understand the reference to coyotes.

    Even this brilliant Harvard student had no idea. Yes, that chinless, spaghetti-armed twit is still commenting.  

    • #78
  19. Django Member
    Django
    @Django

    Lois Lane (View Comment):

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    Don’t forget The Bulwark, The Lincoln Project, and 538. I checked in with them.

    The consensus there was that because Biden didn’t lose, given Biden’s lead and only 12 days left, Biden won.

    I think that is political spin, and I’m not even sure what it means. What would “Biden losing” look like? A freeze-frame on him tucking in his shirt? His eye blowing up as something exploded within it? An incoherent ramble in which he obviously forgot Jill’s name?

    I think that Biden is in the lead, and he may very well win the election, but that is a different question.

    Who won the debate?

    President Trump.

    How will this win impact the election?

    That I can’t answer, but I really do feel better about how I’ll cast my one, little vote. I’d guess there are other people like me?

    There are I hadn’t voted for a GOPe candidate since 2000 and thought I never would vote Republican again. Sorry Constitution Party, I voted for Trump this time.

    • #79
  20. Brian Watt Inactive
    Brian Watt
    @BrianWatt

    • #80
  21. Giulietta Inactive
    Giulietta
    @giuliettachicago

    I appreciate that the moderator did NOT ask Trump whether he denounced white supremacists. That was a step in the right direction at least.

    • #81
  22. Brian Watt Inactive
    Brian Watt
    @BrianWatt

    • #82
  23. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    Never mind.

    • #83
  24. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Raxxalan (View Comment):
    In the end I know you are a style over substance guy. You hope that a loss will cleanse or destroy the republican party and think it will be rebuilt along the McCain Romney lines of the party. That is not going to happen. If Trump looses he’ll be back in 4 years running against Kamala, assuming the Dems haven’t managed to rig the system (big if) and have managed to overreach (virtual certainty) He’ll have ben proven a prophet. It will be a formidable weapon. I suspect if you get your fondest wish and Trump loses big Trumpism is cemented in the republican party forever.

    From your keyboard…

    • #84
  25. Brian Watt Inactive
    Brian Watt
    @BrianWatt

    Biden’s campaign called a lid for several days before the debate.

    Trump went to successive rallies around the country in that time, sometimes more than one rally a day and a rally yesterday and Trump looked tan, relaxed, and healthy and Joe looked on the verge of death.

    • #85
  26. Brian Watt Inactive
    Brian Watt
    @BrianWatt

    Just a question: The Univ. of Pennsylvania, home of the Biden Center, did not declare a $70 Million gift from the Communist Chinese gov’t. Is Joe Biden using the Univ. of Pennsylvania to launder money from China?

    • #86
  27. Umbra Fractus Inactive
    Umbra Fractus
    @UmbraFractus

    Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw (View Comment):

    genferei (View Comment):
    (And those pining for muh Lincoln-Douglas should read a book.)

    It’s a little-known fact that the Lincoln-Douglas debates ended when Lincoln hit Douglas with an early version of the jackknife powerbomb.

    Lincoln was a wrestler, after all.

    • #87
  28. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    DrewInWisconsin, Man of Consta… (View Comment):

    Umbra Fractus (View Comment):

    Sweezle (View Comment):

    Trump won the second debate. Kristen Welker did a better job than I expected. Biden talking about “transitioning from the oil industry” and his earlier admissions of wanting to ban fracking were devastating. Even without the Biden Family Corruption with China & the Ukraine Biden loses.

    Biden: where’s this guy from? Trump: Queens

    The Twits [sic] are saying that Trump lied because he accused Biden of wanting to ban fossil fuels when he really said “transition from.”

    When the government says “transition” they mean “ban slowly.”

    Biden said last night that his goal was to end reliance on fossil fuels by 2025.

    I mean, that might have sounded almost plausible 20 years ago. But 2025 is right around the corner, and that simply will not — cannot — happen. That statement by Biden (like so many of his statements) was a nonsense slogan. And like so much of what he said last night, it was what he had to say to retain the approval of the hard left.

    Somebody should have asked him what year he thought it was NOW.

    • #88
  29. Brian Watt Inactive
    Brian Watt
    @BrianWatt

    • #89
  30. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Brian Watt (View Comment):

    Man, wouldn’t it be something if maybe 20% or even 25% of the black vote goes for Trump?

    • #90
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