“The con man vs. the old man”
Is this America at its best?
Knowing that every columnist alive will dissect the politics of last night’s presidential debate, I intended to focus this column on the media issues surrounding the event. But that would be burying the lede.
It was an unmitigated disaster for President Biden and Democrats.
That’s not to say that Donald Trump had a good night. He ducked questions, he tried to rewrite history, he was mean, and he was nasty.
All anyone will remember, though, is Biden’s thin voice, his meandering sentences, his blank stare, his verbal stumbles. Biden frequently misspoke, having to go back and correct himself. Saying trillions when he meant millions. Saying Medicare when he meant Covid. Completely losing his train of thought at times.
Trump is an attack artist. He’s had years of experience. He’s good at it. And Biden simply was not strong enough to counter the tsunami of bluster that swamped him.
CNN commentator Van Jones summed it up: “The con man vs. the old man.”
Every American who either strongly suspected or had a sneaking suspicion Biden is not up to the job had those thoughts fulfilled last night. Biden sounded weak and too old for the job.
Biden was hard to follow
In my view, Biden has been a competent president. He’s made good policy decisions and he’s built a strong team around him. But for a candidate to be successful, he or she must be able to articulate and clearly communicate those policies. Even on issues Biden should have been able to knock out of the park, I found it hard to follow what he was saying.
Perhaps because of my background in radio and television, I place a lot of emphasis on vocal quality. A clear, strong voice can communicate competence and confidence. A weak, thin, froggy voice communicates just the opposite. And that’s what Biden communicated – even allowing for his history of stuttering.
Trump said some outrageous things. He claimed he will settle the war in Ukraine once he’s president-elect, which is highly inappropriate because there’s only one president at a time. He claimed Hamas would never have attacked Israel if he had been president. That is complete bluster.
Although CNN did a good job putting in controls on Trump by cutting off microphones and not having a live studio audience, moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash let Trump get away with outrageous comments by not challenging him. When Trump completely ignored a question and went into attack mode, all Tapper and Bash would do is re-ask the same question. There were few, if any follow-up questions – and that all played in Trump’s favor.
Malarkey?
Biden tried to look shocked at Trump’s comments, but he relied way too often on the verbal crutch “The idea…”, as in “The very idea that he had a strong economy…” He must have said it 25 times. Biden even said, “I never heard so much malarkey in my life.” Malarkey is not a word that will endear you to young Americans.
I felt bad for young Americans when Trump and Biden started arguing about their golf handicaps and who could drive a golf ball farther. I’m sure young people, and even quite a few old ones, were asking themselves, “Is this the best America has to offer?”
It was a complete embarrassment for our country. Any American is right to despair today. Anyone in a foreign country would be right to worry about the dependability of the United States.
It will take a few days for the dust to settle, to see what top Democrats do about this, to see if Biden realizes how badly he laid an egg last night. Let’s hope his aides are honest with him. Biden may be a competent president, but he is not a strong enough candidate to win re-election.
I’m proud to be a member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. This week, I recommend reading Ed Tibbett’s column Along the Mississippi about some outrageous comments made by a member of Iowa’s Congressional delegation to Washington.
I was the ultimate Biden supporter. Until last night. What can we do? Where can we turn? How does this play out in the politics of the moment? Are there options? I truly believe Pete Buttigieg should be called on to step up to the plate and guide the Democratic ship. We cannot afford to have trump for a second term. That is unacceptable.
I was so disheartened last night that I wasn't going to read this or anything else about the debate. But then, it's Dave Busiek. I have to read it. Good article about a tough subject. I only wish it were different.