October 4 -- Additional Notes:
This article was based on a transcript of the first debate that may not be perfect, as two people talking at the same time can be confusing.
I see Trump and Biden as two people who would borrow lots of money and spend it recklessly. Democrats are worse than Republicans on the expansion of government power and spending, but the difference has narrowed for this long time libertarian. As a libertarian, I believe I can judge both candidates fairly ... because I don't like either one!
With Trump mildly sick with COVID, it's possible there will not be more debates. I hope not. Incumbent presidents are typically 'rusty' in their first debate. although I believe Trump "won" the debate based on content, from a transcript. But he was long on interruptions, and short on style. ... Doing some research on incumbent presidents in debates, it seems common that they do poorly in their first debate -- they had no debate practice in the primaries, so their last debate could have been over four years earlier. The most recent example is President Obama, who did poorly in his first debate with Mitt Romney in 2012. So poorly that I promptly bet $20 that Romney would win the election. That's $20 I'll never see again.
I should have posted yesterday that both Trump and Biden did NOT present a vision of the future, which is the primary subject of their 'filled with platitudes' TV ads.
Joe Biden had a Vice Presidential debate with policy wonk Paul Ryan in 2008. Everyone was sure Ryan would "win". But he didn't. Biden repeatedly interrupted Ryan, and made dismissive movements / faces at many Ryan statements. People say those nasty tactics rattled Ryan, and gave Biden the "win". I believe President Trump knew about that 2008 debate. He did NOT start the first debate interruptions. Joe Biden started interrupting Trump. And Trump knew that nasty tactic worked in 2008 and he was not going to let it work again. So Trump began interrupting Biden every time he heard a lie, which was frequently.
If I had been watching the debate, I would have turned it off. My wife and other women were very annoyed by Trump's interruptions. But I don't watch debates.
I read transcripts and opinions of people I trust for a few days AFTER the debate. Then I judge politicians by their lifetime accomplishments, not a debate "performance".
October 3, 2020:
A summary of the debate for those who did not listen (me) and those who couldn't hear when two people talked at the same time. Based on a transcript, to consider the actual words, rather than Trump's louder interruptions, which turned off women.
In my opinion,Trump clearly won the debate CONTENT. Biden lied repeatedly and smeared Trump with false, easy to refute, character attacks.
Biden completely refused to answer the important question on a Democrat Senate majority approving more than nine Supreme Court Justices and elimination the filibuster rule (60 votes needed, rather than 51, to approve legislation). Biden as president would be the person nominating Supreme Court justices number 10, 11, 12, 13, etc. for Senate approval. Kamala Harris, on TV after the debate, similarly spouted nonsense on another subject, obviously refusing to answer the same question.
SUPREME COURT:
The first question was on President Trump nominating Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. She is certainly qualified for that job:
Trump said: "We won the election. Elections have consequences. We have the Senate, we have the White House and we have a phenomenal nominee. ... We won the election, and therefore, we have the right to choose her."
Biden's response aggressively swung to healthcare and abortion and falsely claimed 100 million Americans would lose healthcare because of ACB. He also said: "how many of those who have died from COVID have survived?"
Trump went directly at Biden's talking points. Biden replied: "I’m not here to call out his lies, everyone knows he’s a liar. Everything [he] is saying so far is simply a lie."
President Trump: "Your party wants to go Socialist... and they're going to dominate you, Joe. You know that."
Joe Biden replied: "I am the Democratic Party right now."
The Supreme Court section ended with Biden saying “Will you shut up, man?”, as Trump repeatedly taunted “Will you pack the court? Will you pack the court?”
COVID:
Biden falsely attacked Trump for 200,000 dead ... claiming Trump "should get out of your bunker, and out of the sand trap, in your golf course."
“You would have lost far more people,” Trump said, interrupting Biden.“He wants to shut down this country and I want to keep it open,”
Trump to Biden: “Did you use the word smart? There’s nothing smart about you, Joe.”
THE ECONOMY:
“We built the greatest economy in history, we closed it down because of the China plague,” Trump said, adding that "Joe wants to shut down this country.
I want to keep it OPEN!"
Biden said “you can’t fix the economy until you fix the COVID crisis."
Moderator Chris Wallace then shifted to ask Trump if he paid only $750 in Federal taxes.
“You’re the worst president America’s ever had, c’mon.” - Biden to Trump, to which Trump replied: "I’ve done more in 47 months -- than you’ve done in 47 years."
The discussion jumped to Biden's tax plan, and Trump pivoted to Hunter Biden: "While we’re at it, just out of curiosity, the mayor of Moscow’s wife gave your son $3.5 millions of dollars. What did he do to deserve it?" Biden falsely denied it, and Trump responded: “He didn’t get three and a half million dollars, Joe?” Biden falsely claimed that story was "totally discredited," except it hasn't been. Biden lied again: “my son did nothing wrong at Burisma.”, ...
although his son Hunter, and his son's business partner too, both with no energy industry experience, or Ukraine experience, took $83,000 a month for many years, to NOT attend Burisma board meetings. That was obviously a Ukraine company bribe for Joe Biden, while he was VP. Joe Biden is on video bragging about withholding one billion dollars of U.S. aid to Ukraine (quid pro quo) to force the Ukraine president to fire the Ukraine prosecutor investigating Burisma, for obvious corruption. Joe Biden's brother and brother in law are also grifters, just like his son Hunter.
Moderator Wallace shut down the Hunter Biden attack.
RACE RELATIONS:
Wallace: “Why should voters trust you rather than your opponent to deal with the race issues facing this country over the next four years?”
Biden began by repeating false anti-Trump lies about Charlottesville, where Trump actually denounced white supremacists, which Democrats pretend never happened: “This is a president who has used everything as a dog whistle to try to generate racism -- to try to generate racist division.”
Trump went after Biden: “He did a crime bill, 1994, where you called them (black Americans) super predators,” Trump said. “You have treated the Black community about as bad as anybody in this country.”
Biden stumbled trying to say that there is systemic racism in America. Trump emphasized law-and-order.
On Critical Race Theory (demonization of white people) , Trump said: “They were teaching people to hate our country, and I’m not going to do that, I’m not going to allow that to happen.”
"What is radical about racial sensitivity training?" asks Chris Wallace, the horse's ass of Fox News, who obviously has no idea what Critical Race Theory is (and it does not pretend to be anything else).
"They were teaching people to hate our country," replied Trump, now debating Chris Wallace too.
“He’s the racist,” Biden said of Trump.
Moderator Wallace asks Trump: "Are you willing to condemn white supremacists, militia groups?"
“Sure, I’m prepared to do that,” Trump said, after publicly condemning White supremacists at least 20 times in the past four years.
Trump correctly replied: “Almost everything I see (the riots) is from the left wing not the right wing. ... I'll tell you what somebody’s got to do something about Antifa and the left. ... When a bat hits you over the head, that’s not an idea,” Trump said of Antifa.
Biden lied, claiming that "Antifa is an idea, not an organization."
Trump: "Name one police group that supports you."
Biden: "We don't have time."
Trump: "We have plenty of time. Name one."
Chris Wallace interrupted to save Biden.
LAW and ORDER:
Trump said “Democratic cities” are where the problems have been occurring.
Biden: “I’m in favor of law ... Law and order with justice where people are treated fairly.”
Biden supported cutting police funding when he was vice president, and has said he will do it again.
TRUMP BRAGGING ABOUT HIMSELF:
“There has never been an administration or president who has done more than I’ve done in a period of three-and-a-half years, and that’s with the impeachment hoax.” He focused on pre-COVID.
Biden replied: “Under this president we’ve become weaker, sicker, poorer, more divided and more violent. When I was vice president we inherited a recession, we fixed it.” He focused on post-COVID.
CLIMATE CHANGE:
“We have to do better management of our forests,” Trump said. “Every year, I get the call, ‘California’s burning. California’s burning.’”
Biden surprised and angered leftists by saying: “No, I don’t support the Green New Deal.” But then he seemed to realize what he said, and reversed himself by asserting: “The Green New Deal will pay for itself as we move forward.” Note that Biden's VP nominee Kamala Harris was a cosponsor of the Green New Deal.
ELECTION FRAUD:
“This is going to be a fraud like you’ve never seen,” Trump said of mail-in ballots.
Biden: “If I win, that will be accepted. If I lose that will be accepted.”
Trump also bought up the Obama/Biden Administration attack on him in 2016 and 2017: "There was no transition. They came after me trying to do a coup."
Moderator Chris Wallace repeatedly stepped on Trump's responses to Biden. He is shamelessly biased horse's ass!
I would not vote for Biden if he ran for dog catcher in my village.
