Quick Thoughts on the Debate

The debate was chaotic because Trump thrives off chaos and so Trump creates chaos. His purpose is to confuse, not to inform. His aim is to fuel cynicism, not to empower. We saw this tonight. As far as I’m concerned, Trump disqualified himself in the final segment on the election. We simply cannot reward a candidate who seeks to undermine Americans’ confidence in their own democracy for his own self-interest.

Heading into this debate, many said they hoped Biden made clear he would strive to bring people together. He did that tonight. He rejected far-left proposals clearly. He committed to holding his own supporters accountable. He said he'd be president for all Americans.

Here are some additional thoughts:

• Trump opened up surprisingly cogent and logical in the section on the Supreme Court. There was even a moment during that opening segment where Trump engaged in actual debate on a substantive issue Biden raised. It was a strong opening 10-15 minutes for Trump. Biden did not make a strong enough argument against Trump making this appointment, though he was smart to make clear his objection was not about personal animus toward Barrett…he rightly kept the focus on Trump and centered the consequences of Barrett getting confirmed on the ACA.

• Biden did not answer Wallace’s question about repealing the filibuster and packing the court, responding as he has in the last week that his answer would become the new topic of conversation. It’s just not going to be sustainable for Biden to not tip his hand on that matter over the next five weeks, though I understand the political difficulties of doing so. Regardless, he’ll need to give a better answer over the next five weeks.

• Oddly, Trump suggested he did not know what Barrett’s views on Roe v. Wade are, even though he promised pro-life groups that he’d nominate someone whose views on the subject were clear. He also contested that Roe v. Wade was hung on the balance.

• Trump’s relative cogency and composure went out the window about 20 minutes into the debate. A half-hour in he was undermining the reliability of his own advisor, Dr. Fauci.

• Throughout the debate, Biden cut through some of the confusion Trump was creating by addressing the American people directly, looking straight at the camera. I think it was effective, and for folks watching this debate to see who actually cares about them and the issues they’re struggling with, Biden provided the answer in these moments. These are the moments the Biden campaign is going to pull out of this debate for ads.

• Strikingly, Trump chose to not clearly condemn white supremacists when asked by Chris Wallace to do so. Unacceptable.

• On race, Biden sounded a lot like Obama from his convention speech, where Biden tied together discrimination Irish Catholics faced in this country with discrimination faced by African-Americans. When Trump raised the idea that if Biden was elected the suburbs would be harmed, Biden said “This is not 1950…these dog whistles don’t work anymore.”

• There was a segment on climate change. I highly recommend looking at a fact-checker on this one in particular.

• Not much reference to faith tonight. I didn’t catch anything from Trump, and Biden’s main reference was to Trump’s St. John’s antic.

• The most important segment of this debate was the last one, and it offered the clear contrast that is at the heart of this election. When asked about election integrity, Joe Biden urged citizens to vote and affirmed the soundness of our system. He committed to concede if he lost the election. He committed to hold his supporters accountable if the results of the election are unclear, and provide leadership that kept the good of the country, not his campaign, at the forefront. Instead of raising the specter that Trump would refuse to leave office if he lost, Biden reassured the country that our system would work, that a peaceful transition would take place. He sought to lower the temperature.

  Trump on the other hand, unloaded an incoherent rant of grievances and resentments about 2016, and then proceeded to lie about ballot integrity and cast doubt on the reliability of our civic processes in a way that is virtually unprecedented from any president. He refused to say he would urge his supporters to stay calm in the case of uncertainty about the election outcome. He showed he would be willing to lie and bluster his way through election night and whatever follows so long as he sees some personal advantage in it.

My final word: this was an exhausting and frustrating debate to watch. Over the next 24-48 hours, expect the Biden campaign to run several ads pulling from moments from the debate where Biden speaks directly to the American people and their concerns, perhaps even contrasting that with some of Trump’s rambling resentments, and try to cement a positive perception of the debate in the public’s mind in the post-debate scramble. I do not anticipate that Trump will gain on Biden as a result of this debate, but we’ll have to see if polls tighten for other reasons—principally, the Supreme Court.

Michael

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