US Election 2020

[rainbow]

Trump supporters are lost causes. I'm just relieved Biden did well.

Trump shot his load on the Hunter issue. At the next debate, Biden can simply wave it off. Old news.

...on the other hand, the Tax Returns will remain for the next debate, and the next one. There really is no way out for Trump.

[Tero]

Toxic Trump:
https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/2020/9 ... ssion=true

[Scot Dutchy]

Will you shut up, man?

Donald Trump ensures first presidential debate is national humiliation

Analysis: Only one man looked remotely presidential on the debate stage in Cleveland, Ohio, and it was not the incumbent

Cry, the beloved country. Donald Trump ensured Tuesday’s first US presidential debate was the worst in American history, a national humiliation. The rest of the world – and future historians – will presumably look at it and weep.

More likely than not, according to opinion polls, his opponent Joe Biden will win the November election and bring the republic back from the brink. If Trump is re-elected, however, this dark, horrifying, unwatchable fever dream will surely be the first line of America’s obituary.

Only one man looked remotely presidential on the debate stage in Cleveland, Ohio, and it was not the incumbent. He interrupted, ranted, raged, spewed lies and interrupted some more. Oh, and he passed on an opportunity to condemn white supremacists, instead telling them to “stand back and stand by”.

The debate moderator, Chris Wallace of Fox News, did not cover himself in glory either. He was a like a school supply teacher, hopelessly out of his depth as unruly children run riot. He did not enforce the rules or cut the president’s mic.

Facing this asymmetric bullying, Biden showed self-control and stood his ground. He spoke for tens of millions of Americans when he demanded: “Will you shut up, man?” – the Biden campaign rushed out this slogan on a T-shirt before the debate was even over.

“Proud Boys, stand back and stand by! But I’ll tell you what, somebody’s got to do something about antifa and the left.”

[Tero]

Scotty, you forgot to say it? Trump will win!

[Svartalf]

Oh, yes, rump is literally made of win... actually, it should be spelled "winn", because when it refers to him, it becomes a four letter word.

[Sean Hayden]

Trump supporters are lost causes. I'm just relieved Biden did well.

Trump shot his load on the Hunter issue. At the next debate, Biden can simply wave it off. Old news.

...on the other hand, the Tax Returns will remain for the next debate, and the next one. There really is no way out for Trump.

--indeed

[Sean Hayden]

So I caught a bit of the debate highlights on YouTube. Bit of shitshow wasn't it?

It’s both fascinating and disheartening that Trump’s toxicity is yet again stealing the show.

The debate was not a disaster.

Trump is, and he showed that quite clearly.

Biden on the other hand was poised and effectively communicated his beliefs and aspirations. For instance, who can honestly prefer Trump’s confused ramblings on law and order, even refusing to denounce The Proud Boys, to Biden’s insistence on accountability and community involvement?

The similarities between this coverage and our 2016 failings are scary. Is this just who we are?

[laklak]

Lol the Trumpists are convinced he won, y'all are convinced Biden won. What a shambolic clusterfuck. All y'all are just whistling past the graveyard.

[Sean Hayden]

Young Earth Creationist are convinced Ham wins every debate, but I doubt you'd make the same argument you're attempting here in regards to YEC vs scientists.

For one thing, one side of this debate is actually aware of the problem of motivated reasoning, while the other has likely never even heard of it...

[Sean Hayden]

I think a boxing analogy works quite well here. In a good fight every effort has been made to match the opponents according to size and skill. Unfortunately, Biden has to debate Trump despite the appalling differences between their skill levels. Now, having performed reasonably well against a flailing opponent, Biden to his horror, discovers the press is calling the fight a disaster. They could of course point out how outclassed Trump was, how Biden countered effectively against a maniac, or how he stuck to a straightforward offense, all of which gave him a decisive advantage.

But instead they declare the entire fight a disaster, and a reasonable example of how to handle a loon is lost.

[JimC]

I know the point you're making, Sean, and I agree that Biden was more effective, but it was still a disaster in terms of being the opposite of what a reasonably civilised debate should be. As a spectacle for the rest of the world, it was not a compelling argument for democracy...

[Scot Dutchy]

Just why Jim do you talk about democracy in a land that has never known democracy.

Who really thinks this will have a negative effect on Trump supporters? It is ZILCH. Most of them would not even understand what was being said. When you get to a brain thickness of a Trump supporter just give up.

[Tero]

Wallace/NBC
As a practical matter, even if the president’s microphone had been shut, he still could have continued to interrupt, and it might well have been picked up on Biden’s microphone, and it still would have disrupted the proceedings in the hall," he said.

Trump in a tweet on Wednesday afternoon retorted that the debates should try "getting a new Anchor and a smarter Democrat candidate!"

[Brian Peacock]

Perhaps Trump fell foul of believing his own rhetoric about Biden being in cognitive decline and just tried to bamboozle, blindside, fluster, and confuse the old boy. If he could have got Biden stumbling for words, or forgetting his thread, or getting angry then it would have played right into the narrative that Biden is over the hill etc. He also knows that if he starts speaking over Biden then the cameras are going to switch onto him, which is probably why he prowled around behind Clinton last time round. As a means of pulling focus it was quite effective, but from what I've seen the kind of juvenile attention-seeking stuff he pulled last night doesn't make him look good to anyone who doesn't already support him. I can't see how last night would have either drawn undecideds to his camp or put them off Biden as an alternative.

[JimC]

Yep, nothing will change the "minds" of rusted-on Trump supporters. The two key factors for me are the undecided voters, and the actual voter turn-out...