I listened to the debate on WISN, which had the Fox News Radio feed. Some thoughts, but first this:
The president came into the debate with a low bar to clear, and he stumbled. He was flat. He was rambling. He was unclear.
Roughly midway through the debate, the Biden campaign told reporters that the president was battling a cold – an attempt to explain his raspy voice. That may be so, but it also sounded like an excuse.
For 90 minutes, more often than not, Joe Biden was on the ropes. Particularly early in the evening, some of his answers were nonsensical. After losing his train of thought he ended one answer by saying, “We finally beat Medicare” – an odd reference to the government run healthcare programme for the elderly.
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For those of us who have been paying attention, Biden’s terrible performance was not a surprise. At least, the fact that he’s an incoherent, mumbling, liar who is clearly well down the path of mental decline, was not a surprise. Perhaps the only surprise was the degree to which that is true and the fact that he is so far gone that they couldn’t juice him up enough to even pull off the first half hour of the debate before slipping.
The most pressing concern I had throughout the debate is, “WHO THE HELL IS RUNNING THIS COUNTRY!?!?” And no matter what one thinks about how the debate impacts the election, it cannot be overstated how the world just saw that the United States is rudderless without a captain at the helm right now.
While Biden’s performance was very bad, Trump’s performance was pretty good. There were a few times when he let his temper get the best of him and he strayed, but most of the time he was measured, direct, and stayed on the issues.
I was also pleasantly surprised by the debate format and moderators. I enjoyed the way each candidate spoke with very little crosstalk. The format, with slotted time and muted microphones, ended up favoring Trump. It kept him disciplined and on message. And the questions, while slightly slanted to the Left, were not terrible. They asked hard questions about the economy, border, inflation, etc. to Biden. These are issues that favor Trump. Of course they asked about abortion and global warming too. Trump’s answer on the abortion question was quite good. It was nuanced and compassionate while Biden’s was a screed. The only hot topic that was glaringly missed was about trans issues. But given the content of the rest of the debate, it may have just fallen victim to time.
By the standard that it is very hard to win a debate, but the goal is to not lose… Biden clearly lost. But even had Biden been more coherent in his delivery, his content was also bad. He contradicted himself on raising taxes, the inflation rate when he took office, and his administration’s record. He also shamed himself by bragging about the Afghanistan surrender and ignoring the Americans who were killed. Biden repeated proven lies, like the Charlottsville claim, even though that was debunked as recently as last week. It is clear that there is a world happening in his addled brain that is a reflection of BS that his wife and staff have been feeding him, and there is the world we are all living in. We needed a president who was willing and able to address the real issues hitting Americans. Biden is not that president.
Will the Democrats replace Biden? That seems to have been the overarching question after the debate being proffered by liberals and conservatives alike. I think some might try, but it will be difficult. There are two major roadblocks. First, the Democratic Party consolidated so much power into the hands of the president during Obama that Biden holds all of the reins of power. They cannot oust him without his consent. Given Biden’s tremendous ego and seemingly sincere belief that he is doing a great job and is the best protection for America against Trump, I do not think he will abandon his campaign unless he dies.
Second, who do you replace Biden with? The only real choice is Kamala Harris. She has the national name recognition and the Democrats have been telling us for four years that she is the best person to be a heartbeat away from the big chair. But if there is any Democrats less liked than Biden right now, it’s Harris. And were she to be the nominee, she would still have to own the disastrous results of the Biden presidency. But her ego is such that she will not willingly step aside either. And the intersectionality of the Democrat Party culture will not abide them pushing aside a Black woman in favor of another candidate. Such a move would fracture their already fragile coalition.
I believe that the most likely scenario is still that Biden meanders his way to November with his staff doing their best to hide him and gaslight the American people. Then the American voters will have a choice to make. Let us hope that that choice will be accurately reflected by our questionably secure and accurate electoral process.