
I’m old enough to have watched the very first televised presidential debate back in 1960 between Vice President Richard Nixon and Senator John Kennedy. I was not, however, old enough then to understand how optics translates to votes. According to surveys, people who listened to the debate on radio thought Nixon won because of his ability to best articulate domestic and foreign policy issues. But those who watched the debate on television saw Kennedy as the hands-down winner. That’s because Nixon refused to wear make-up, had a 5 o’clock shadow, and wore a suit that clashed with the color of the studio background, while JFK showed up tanned, rested, and dressed in telegenic attire. The difference in the two men’s appearance and demeanor was enough to swing the election to Kennedy in what turned out to be the closest presidential contest in history.
Since then, I have watched presidential debates every time they were televised. I saw Jimmy Carter look weak in 1980, and four years later I watched Reagan look old and confused in his first debate with Walter Mondale. I witnessed George H.W. Bush looking bored in his 1992 three-way debate with Bill Clinton and Ross Perot. I’ve seen candidates misspeak like when Gerald Ford said there was no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe. And I saw Obama take Mitt Romney to school over military equipment in one of their debates. But never have I seen anything to compare with the performance of Joe Biden in last week’s CNN debate with Donald Trump. Biden shuffled out onto the stage, looked old and pale, gave incoherent answers, and lost his train of thought on several occasions. It was hands-down the worst debate performance I’ve ever witnessed, and it came against an opponent who is a lying, sexist, misogynist, white supremacist adulterer who incited an insurrection and also happens to be a convicted felon. Any incumbent president should have been able to win a debate against that kind of a man, but Joe Biden couldn’t.
Here’s a sampling of Biden’s incoherent answers.
When trying to explain the revenues we would accrue from his tax plan, Biden completely lost his train of thought and said, “We’ll be able to do the things we need to do, [pause] everything with Covid [pause], I mean [pause], look, we finally beat Medicare.”
When responding to Trump’s claim that illegal immigrants were killing Americans, Biden said, “A young woman who was murdered, he went to the funeral, and she was murdered by an immigrant, but there are a lot of young women who are raped by their in-laws, spouses, and sisters, and they can do nothing about it when they cross the state line.” Call me naive, but I don’t know of any woman who has ever been raped by her sister.
And when trying to take credit for a reduction in border crossings, Biden said, “I’m going to continue to do more until we get a total ban on border patrol.”
During the 90-minute debate, Biden did manage to come out of his slumber a few times and deliver some zingers, like when Trump said, “Let’s not act like children,” Uncle Joe retorted, “You ARE a child.” And speaking of Trump’s sexual encounter with a porn star, Biden said, “You have the morals of an alley cat.”
Also to his credit, Joe did occasionally speak of his policy positions and accomplishments which have helped millions of Americans, but he never articulated them with any conviction, or without slurring his words.
In the post-debate panel discussions, CNN analysts were dismayed by the texts they were receiving from leaders in the Democratic Party, calling Biden’s performance “dismal” and his answers “incoherent.” Biden’s friend and former Obama advisor David Axelrod said the President “seemed disoriented.” And Van Jones said it was painful to watch, “I love Joe Biden, but he failed,” said Jones. Their consensus was that Biden should get out of the race so that a viable candidate could step in to take on Trump in November.
As I mentioned before, plenty of candidates have had a weak debate performances and one could posit that Biden’s CNN disaster was similar to Reagan’s first debate with Mondale which made the Gipper look old and confused. But the comparison doesn’t hold up. Reagan came back strong in the second debate and even made light of the age issue. Not only that, but Reagan was 73 at the time and Joe Biden is 81. The other problem is that Reagan was a popular president, while Biden’s approval numbers were in the 30s before the debate. Also, Reagan always seemed youthful, engaged, and communicated a positive vision for the future, while Biden just looks and acts old and can’t articulate a vision for the country even if he had one.
I am no fan of Donald Trump and will never vote for him, but as an impartial journalist, I am compelled to say that Uncle Joe cooked his goose on that debate stage. If the Dems want to beat Trump, someone better convince Biden to drop out now and let California Governor Gavin Newsom step in as the party’s standard bearer. If not, we could have a reboot of 1960, where once again, the man with the tan will win the White House.
Joe Biden’s Debate Debacle
I’m old enough to have watched the very first televised presidential debate back in 1960 between Vice President Richard Nixon and Senator John Kennedy. I was not, however, old enough then to understand how optics translates to votes. According to surveys, people who listened to the debate on radio thought Nixon won because of his ability to best articulate domestic and foreign policy issues. But those who watched the debate on television saw Kennedy as the hands-down winner. That’s because Nixon refused to wear make-up, had a 5 o’clock shadow, and wore a suit that clashed with the color of the studio background, while JFK showed up tanned, rested, and dressed in telegenic attire. The difference in the two men’s appearance and demeanor was enough to swing the election to Kennedy in what turned out to be the closest presidential contest in history.
Since then, I have watched presidential debates every time they were televised. I saw Jimmy Carter look weak in 1980, and four years later I watched Reagan look old and confused in his first debate with Walter Mondale. I witnessed George H.W. Bush looking bored in his 1992 three-way debate with Bill Clinton and Ross Perot. I’ve seen candidates misspeak like when Gerald Ford said there was no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe. And I saw Obama take Mitt Romney to school over military equipment in one of their debates. But never have I seen anything to compare with the performance of Joe Biden in last week’s CNN debate with Donald Trump. Biden shuffled out onto the stage, looked old and pale, gave incoherent answers, and lost his train of thought on several occasions. It was hands-down the worst debate performance I’ve ever witnessed, and it came against an opponent who is a lying, sexist, misogynist, white supremacist adulterer who incited an insurrection and also happens to be a convicted felon. Any incumbent president should have been able to win a debate against that kind of a man, but Joe Biden couldn’t.
Here’s a sampling of Biden’s incoherent answers.
When trying to explain the revenues we would accrue from his tax plan, Biden completely lost his train of thought and said, “We’ll be able to do the things we need to do, [pause] everything with Covid [pause], I mean [pause], look, we finally beat Medicare.”
When responding to Trump’s claim that illegal immigrants were killing Americans, Biden said, “A young woman who was murdered, he went to the funeral, and she was murdered by an immigrant, but there are a lot of young women who are raped by their in-laws, spouses, and sisters, and they can do nothing about it when they cross the state line.” Call me naive, but I don’t know of any woman who has ever been raped by her sister.
And when trying to take credit for a reduction in border crossings, Biden said, “I’m going to continue to do more until we get a total ban on border patrol.”
During the 90-minute debate, Biden did manage to come out of his slumber a few times and deliver some zingers, like when Trump said, “Let’s not act like children,” Uncle Joe retorted, “You ARE a child.” And speaking of Trump’s sexual encounter with a porn star, Biden said, “You have the morals of an alley cat.”
Also to his credit, Joe did occasionally speak of his policy positions and accomplishments which have helped millions of Americans, but he never articulated them with any conviction, or without slurring his words.
In the post-debate panel discussions, CNN analysts were dismayed by the texts they were receiving from leaders in the Democratic Party, calling Biden’s performance “dismal” and his answers “incoherent.” Biden’s friend and former Obama advisor David Axelrod said the President “seemed disoriented.” And Van Jones said it was painful to watch, “I love Joe Biden, but he failed,” said Jones. Their consensus was that Biden should get out of the race so that a viable candidate could step in to take on Trump in November.
As I mentioned before, plenty of candidates have had a weak debate performances and one could posit that Biden’s CNN disaster was similar to Reagan’s first debate with Mondale which made the Gipper look old and confused. But the comparison doesn’t hold up. Reagan came back strong in the second debate and even made light of the age issue. Not only that, but Reagan was 73 at the time and Joe Biden is 81. The other problem is that Reagan was a popular president, while Biden’s approval numbers were in the 30s before the debate. Also, Reagan always seemed youthful, engaged, and communicated a positive vision for the future, while Biden just looks and acts old and can’t articulate a vision for the country even if he had one.
I am no fan of Donald Trump and will never vote for him, but as an impartial journalist, I am compelled to say that Uncle Joe cooked his goose on that debate stage. If the Dems want to beat Trump, someone better convince Biden to drop out now and let California Governor Gavin Newsom step in as the party’s standard bearer. If not, we could have a reboot of 1960, where once again, the man with the tan will win the White House.