Get the Ricochet app
Ricochet will work fine in a browser on your mobile devices, but for the best experience please download our app.
I wasn't planning on watching the debate. Nothing could happen that would make me change my vote, but I tuned in out of curiosity... Wow. I expected Biden to be a little more sentient and coherent than he was. "He started out a little slow," in the words of Vice President Harris, and things went downhill from there.
I did not hold out much hope for Trump to rein himself in, but he did an excellent job. His facial expressions during Biden's ramblings were priceless. The debate format—the one everyone beforehand was saying would work against Trump— truly worked for him. It kept him from interrupting Biden; he let Biden hang himself. The meme-errific line was definitely, "I really don't know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don't think he knows what he said either."
And was it my imagination, or did Trump refer to Biden as "Brandon" at one point? I thought I heard him do that, and it cracked me up.
The most memorable line of Biden's was, "We beat Medicare!"
Another surprise was how well Jake Tapper and Dana Bash moderated the debate. They kept both men to the agreed-upon timetable, and they never inserted themselves in a Candy Crowley moment. I could have done without the silly "climate change" question, but you can't have everything, especially when it comes to CNN.
I'm wondering why Biden's handlers agreed to this. I'm sure it was obvious to them that he was in no condition to stand up for 90 minutes and give coherent responses to reasonable questions, let alone parry Trump's attacks. Did they think Trump would never agree to their conditions (and when he did they were trapped)? Now, instead of people wondering if Biden can last four more years, they're wondering if he can last the rest of his term. The final image of Dr. Jill Biden carefully helping her husband down the steps is a perfect metaphor for his presidency.
It's a sad indicator of how far our country has fallen that both men showed the most energy when they started arguing about their golf handicaps. Unfortunately, elections are no longer about persuading the majority of Americans to support your policies. It's now all about harvesting the most votes, no matter the source. In that regard, the Republicans have their work cut out for them.
Discussion (33)
To read this bio, please join Ricochet.
I thought I heard him say "Brandon" once too.
To read this bio, please join Ricochet.
Thanks for the confirmation! Trump is a genius when it comes to marketing.
To read this bio, please join Ricochet.
Amen! I think this is the most important aspect of this election, that the Democrats have had two election cycles ('20 and '22) to refine their ballot harvesting and counting processes and they always "play for keeps." As the "Party of Government," Democrat constituencies overwhelmingly make up the full-time and permanent staff of the government agencies tasked with collecting and counting ballots. Expecting these all-to-human employees to make tough calls regarding which ballots get accepted and counted (D) versus those that don't (R) is unrealistic and naive.
I have yet to see the GOP get serious about challenging the Dem's stranglehold on the vote-counting processes, or on adopting the necessary ground game to harvest ballots the way Democrats do.
To read this bio, please join Ricochet.
And her remarks afterwards...I'm surprised she didn't put a gold star sticker on his forehead.
MODERATOR
To read this bio, please join Ricochet.
I wasn't happy at all with Trump's performance, but by Trump standards, he did very well. All he had to do was not act completely crazy, and I think he succeeded.
You're seeing five of 33 comments. Sign in, or join for just $5 per month, to read them all and add your own.