Tag: Presidential Debates

The Wardrobe, The Expressions And The Debate

Last night was the much awaited debate between Trump and Harris….so much has been written and said about this event that I feel I will be disappointed…..and yes as a political junkie I will be watching.

The candidates came out and as usual we dressed drably…Trump in navy suit with hideous red tie….Harris in a signature pant suit…black in color….nothing there.

Facial expressions….the split screen offered a superb look at candidates facial expressions at the answer given by opponent….some very humorous.

Did Harris separate from Biden?  Did either candidate bait the other into doing something stupid? 

Harris tried but there was a lot of Biden in her responses….Trump got handed his butt on several issues which angered him and he would swing wildly with false claims and BS.

But the best takeaway is the Harris did a good job at getting under Trump’s skin.

One common early takeaway from Tuesday night’s presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump: Harris seemed to be able to get under Trump’s skin, “rattling” him and putting him on the defensive:

  • Harris taunted Trump “over and over” on topics he’s particularly sensitive about, including the size of his rally crowds and how he’s viewed by world leaders, write Adam Cancryn and Myah Ward at Politico. “The result left Trump … struggling to land hits,” they write, recounting how he went from “measured and collected” to “increasingly frustrated as Harris needled him.” At one point, as he was goaded into bragging about the size of his rallies, Harris simply “looked on, smirking and shaking her head.”
  • Harris spent the entire debate “making every effort to burrow under his skin, hammering him over his criminal convictions, his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, the size of his rally crowds and the foreign and military leaders who she said have called him a ‘disgrace,'” writes Nicholas Nehamas at the New York Times. And Trump often couldn’t help himself and “took the bait, responding to Ms. Harris’s critiques with a hail of false claims, misinformation and personal attacks.”
  • The VP had clearly “prepared extensively for their debate, and peppered nearly every answer with a comment designed to enrage the former president,” writes the team at CNN. The result, they say, was a Trump who was “often out of control.” Harris’ goal appeared to be to “throw Trump off his game,” and, they write, it was “a dramatic success.”
  • The former president “was on the defensive over his legal problems, election denialism, opposition from former allies and incitement of an attack on the US Capitol,” writes Zac Anderson at USA Today. He floundered as he struggled to hit back, and “often leaned on familiar and false claims that drew corrections from the moderators.” The result was that Harris had the “upper hand” much of the time, he writes.
  • Even at Fox News, Doug Schoen concedes Harris was the “clear winner,” but says Trump’s supporters are well aware of “how much bias ABC News introduced into the process” with the moderators’ seeming “need to fact-check virtually everything the former president said.” Schoen says despite Harris’ debate performance, “Voters remain angry about the direction the country is headed in, about the performance of both President Biden and Vice President Harris, as well as which candidate they trust more on the top two or three issues facing the country: the economy, immigration and law and order.”

The swing-state voters polled by the Washington Post also agreed Harris won, even if they personally plan to vote for Trump.

As for whether the two will debate again before November, that remains unclear. Per USA Today, Harris’ campaign said after the debate that it wants to “do it again,” and Trump has previously said he’d be willing to debate the VP multiple times. But no firm plans have yet been made.

This debate shows that extensive prep work pays off for Harris and the idea of lackluster prep was the downfall for Trump in this debate.

But for me the telling part of the whole night were the candidates closing remarks….

Donald Trump won a coin toss before Tuesday night’s debate and chose to go last with his closing statement. In it, he called Kamala Harris “the worst vice president in history” and ridiculed her presidential plans by pointing out that she already works in the White House, per the New York Times. “Why hasn’t she done it?” Trump asked, a refrain that might become a common one in the final stretch of the campaign.

Harris, for her part, struck a more moderate tone in her closing remarks as she made a plea for unity, per the Hill: “That’s the kind of president we need right now. Someone who cares about you and is not putting themselves first,” she said. “I intend to be a president for all Americans and focus on what we can do over the next 10 and 20 years to build back up our country.” The debate began with a handshake between the two rivals, but it ended without one, notes Politico.

The night was not a total waste but it was a bit of a bore.  Will there be a next debate?

If I was Trump I would cut my loses and walk away from the promise of yet another debate…..or if he accepts another one then do a bit more prep work so you do not look like a complete dullard.

Now are you glad that I am here so you did not have to suffer through this fiasco?

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“lego ergo scribo”

Tonight’s The Big Night

The ‘most anticipated moment’ of the 2024 election will be held tonight and hosted by CNN….the Biden/Trump debate.

My thinking is that since most people have already made up their minds that this would be a bust for viewership…..I may have been mistaken…..at least according to the news reports that is….

Most US adults plan to watch some element of Thursday’s presidential debate, and many think the event will be important for the campaigns of both President Biden and former President Trump, according to a new poll from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Both men remain broadly unpopular as they prepare to face off for the first time since 2020, although Trump maintains a modest enthusiasm advantage with his base compared to Biden. Stats:

  • About 6 in 10 US adults say they’re “extremely” or “very” likely to watch the debate live or in clips, or read about or listen to commentary about the performance of the candidates in the news or social media, per the AP. The poll suggests tens of millions of Americans are likely to see or hear about at least part of Thursday’s debate despite how unusually early it comes in the campaign season.
  • USA Today reports Americans have tuned in to a Biden-Trump debate in great numbers before: The candidates’ September 2020 debate was one of the most-watched ever, with more than 73 million viewers, per Nielsen Media.
  • Both sides see the debate as important: About half, 47%, of Americans say the debate is “extremely” or “very” important for the success of Biden’s campaign, and about 4 in 10 say it’s highly important for Trump’s campaign.
  • Biden and Trump are each entering the debate with low favorability ratings, with about 6 in 10 US adults indicating they have a very or somewhat unfavorable view of Biden; a similar number have a negative view of Trump.

If someone has already made up their mind then why watch this clown show?

We all know that this could be a disastrous night for either one or maybe even both candidates…..and what if is is disastrous?

Here is an opinion on that issue….

When Joe Biden and Donald Trump met on a debate stage in October 2020, the result was…something.

The Washington Post called it “the worst presidential debate in living memory.” For media analyst Tom Jones at Poynter, it was a “dumpster fire” full of “constant interruptions. Constant talking over one another. Name-calling. Juvenile bickering.” A transcript of the debate reads like gibberish. Some commentators suggested that the planned rematch a few weeks later should be scrapped (it happened, but the moderators came armed with a mute button).

One of the few positive reviews came from Reason‘s Jacob Sullum, who argued that the debate was “good for the republic” because it shattered the “unfounded respect for the people who rule us.” Fair enough.

Welp, we’re doing it again. Except this time the candidates are four years even older, the country is $7.8 trillion further in debt, and the number of swing voters to influence is (probably) even smaller. And rather than taking place in the final weeks of the campaign, as debates typically do, this absurd spectacle is unfolding before the two old men on stage have been officially named the nominees of their respective major parties.

In that last detail, however, shines a faint silver lining.

What if Thursday night’s debate is a complete train wreck? And not in the same way as before. What if the debate doesn’t merely descend into uncivil nonsense—which is the bare minimum of what should be expected—and doesn’t simply confirm what the Biden-Trump debates in 2020 showed: that these men deserve neither our respect nor our affection?

Why a Disastrous Biden-Trump Debate Could Be the Best Outcome for America

Does anyone think that no matter what happens tonight that minds will be changed on voting?

Personally, I do not think it will change many minds no matter how good or disastrous the night maybe for one or the other candidate.

But no to worry the Old Professor will return tomorrow with a detailed post on the night’s festivities.

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“lego ergo scribo”

What Do Americans Want In Foreign Policy?

We have had our last debate for the 2020 presidential candidates…..it was pretty typical fare….lots of bullshit few specifics…..

There was little said about any of our foreign polices or our endless wars…..and I blame the moderator who was just playing the hand dealt to her by the owners of the news, the M-IC.

You would think that since Trump is getting some pretty positive feedback on his announcement of troop withdrawals that he would have found a way to insert that into his presentation….unless of course all his BS is just that BS….

We Americans deserve a debate where foreign policy is the only subject covered……

Foreign policy issues have barely made an appearance during the 2020 presidential campaign. The first presidential debate on Sept. 29 was wholly unsatisfying. While the 90-minute vice presidential debate between Vice President Mike Pence and Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris was a bit more civilized, the discussion was so general and superficial as to be virtually meaningless. Short of bumper-sticker phrases that are designed to win the news cycle, the American people have been left to wonder how a President Trump or President Biden would manage relations with some of Washington’s most significant adversaries; the circumstances with which each would use U.S. military force; which conflicts they believe are important enough to warrant U.S. involvement; and what specific concepts will help guide their decision-making. The last presidential debate offers both candidates the opportunity to provide the country with the foreign-policy conversation it deserves.

After two consecutive decades of U.S. overreach that has taken U.S. troops into countries as diverse as Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Somalia, the Philippines, and Niger—all on the backs of a tired, 19 year-old authorization for the use of military force—Americans are increasingly searching for leaders on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue who understand that a course correction is desperately overdue. Recent public opinion surveys portray an American population disillusioned with what can only be described as a whole-of-government fixation on a violent and dysfunctional Middle East—a region whose strategic value to the United States is dwindling. More than $6 trillion and the sacrifice of tens of thousands of U.S. casualties over 19 years have bought the United States little security benefit. The list of opportunity costs, however, have continued to grow. It is not a coincidence that China’s hard power, diplomatic influence, and wealth have improved while Washington was stuck in Iraq and Afghanistan taming multiple insurgencies.

https://www.realclearworld.com/2020/10/22/americans_deserve_a_debate_on_foreign_policy_581565.html

It looks like no matter which old fart wins the wars status quo will remain….

Forever-war advocates rest on the logic that because it is theoretically possible a negative outcome might result if we end unsuccessful wars, it is safer to continue supporting them; that the lowest cost is to maintain the status quo. When the actual conditions of each deployment are examined, however, it becomes quickly evident the significant costs we are enduring, right now, are inappropriate and unsustainable.

https://www.militarytimes.com/opinion/commentary/2020/10/23/risk-to-america-of-maintaining-forever-war-status-quo-dangerously-high/

My thought is since that we spend so much money on our endless wars then maybe we should hear what the candidates think and what they have planned…….and I am not alone…..

 a YouGov poll commissioned by the Charles Koch Institute and completed in the summer of 2020 found that 74 percent of Americans wanted to withdraw our troops from Iraq and 76 percent wanted to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan. The numbers from veterans—those who have done the fighting and dying over the past two decades—was just as stark: 73 percent favored ending the war.

The trends are clear. Americans across the spectrum recognize with increasing clarity that the militaristic foreign policy of the past two decades has failed. More diplomacy, not militancy, is what the people want. Their rationale is as simple as it is reasonable: the people are tired of failure and are eager to try a new path that has a greater chance of success.

We are spending trillions (yes that is trillion with a “T”) I think that the candidates could spare 90 minutes to explain themselves and their foreign policies.

But sadly Biden’s foreign policy track record is not at all something I would wnat to continue…..

With some 44 years of collective government service as a U.S. senator and vice president, Joe Biden has amassed a substantial foreign and national security record. An examination of some of his key votes as senator and performance as vice president does not provide a ringing endorsement for his presidential candidacy. Instead, it raises serious questions about whether his votes and decisions detrimentally affected the U.S. economy, U.S. national security, and international peace and security.

https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/522480-is-america-ready-to-return-to-the-obama-biden-foreign-policy

What I see is more the same endless wars and the conflicts that go unreported…..but at least Trump will be gone right?

Any thoughts?

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The Debate Take Aways

First let me apologize this should have been part of the previous post….but it was late when the babbling stopped and I needed to nap.

These are what the pundits saw as the major take aways from the battling candidates last night.

President Trump and Joe Biden shared a debate stage for the second and final time Thursday night—and it was a far more restrained affair than their first meeting, helped by the introduction of a mute button and widely praised moderating from NBC’s Kristen Welker. With far fewer interruptions and a lot less crosstalk, the candidates made their opposing cases on issues including the pandemic, health care, and corruption. Analysts say that while both candidates landed some clear hits, the debate didn’t deliver the game-changing moment Trump needed. Some takeaways:

  • Sharp contrasts. While the tone of the Nashville debate “was more sedate, the conflict in matters of substance and vision could not have been more dramatic,” Alexander Burns and Jonathan Martin write at the New York Times. The contrast was most evident in the candidate’s remarks on the pandemic they write, with Trump “promising, in defiance of evidence, that the disease was ‘going away,'” while Biden “called for much more aggressive federal action for the ‘dark winter’ ahead.”
  • A changed tone from Trump. Trump cleared a low bar by improving his tone. The president was on his “best behavior” Thursday night and while his strategy seemed to be allowing Biden lots of speaking time in the hope the Democrat would slip up, “that didn’t really happen,” Niall Stanage and Jonathan Easley write at the Hill. “While there were moments where Biden appeared shaky, there were also instances in which he met the moment, such as with his emotional response to the Trump administration’s policy of separating parents from their children at the border,” they write. “But overall, the president’s calmer demeanor likely helped him to a degree.”
  • Not a disaster for Biden. The former vice president also cleared a low bar by not making any gaffes likely to jeopardize his lead in the polls, according to Mark Barabak and Melanie Mason at the Los Angeles Times. The Democrat “didn’t suffer a brain freeze or open his mouth and spray buckshot into his feet. Indeed, he more than acquitted himself,” they write. “Crisp speaking, cogent argument, and linear presentation have never been the former vice president’s strong suit,” they note, but despite “garble and a verbal stumble now and then,” there was “nothing remotely close to a death blow to Biden’s candidacy.”
  • “Facts took a hit.” The AP‘s fact-checking of the debate notes that the “facts took a hit right out of the gate”, when Trump “misrepresented the reality of the pandemic in myriad and familiar ways,” while “Biden, at times, was selective on the coronavirus and other matters, at one point stating that no one under Obamacare lost private health coverage. Millions did.”
  • Medicare-for-all among the losers. In a list of debate winners and losers at Vox, Medicare-for-all ranks among the losers. Biden rejected Trump’s claim that he was pushing for “socialized medicine,” telling the Republican that he had beaten numerous rivals who supported a single-payer system. “The reason why I had such a fight with 20 candidates for the nomination was I support private insurance,” Biden said. “Not one single person with private insurance would lose their insurance under my plan, nor did they under ObamaCare.”
  • “Better for the country.” This was the kind of debate people were hoping for the first time around, with “a clear contrast on policies and almost no incomprehensible crosstalk,” writes Jim Geraghty at National Review. “Compared to the first debate, this was Lincoln and Douglas. Okay, maybe more like Statler and Waldorf,” he writes. “But it was much better for everyone: better for Trump, better for Biden, and better for the country.” He says it’s “unfortunate for the Trump campaign” that there will not be a third debate.

Just a little refresher on the evening……

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2020 Presidential Debate #3

Mercifully this is the final debate before the vote.

This was a different debate than normal…it had to be altered because Donald the Orange does not understand what a debate is all about….and he was a titty baby.

The debate makes perfect fodder for an SNL skit….but in all fairness Trump was a bit calmer and seemed to be more focused than the first debate….still lied his ass off…..but as I expected there was some theatrics and …..Before the debate even began, Trump seemed to set the tone in the form of a special guest: He invited Tony Bobulinski, a former business partner of Hunter Biden. 

Plus Trump is trying out a new slur for Biden in the closing days of this election….. President Trump again pressed his case during Thursday night’s debate that Joe and Hunter Biden acted unethically in regard to Hunter’s business dealings. At one point, he referred to the elder Biden as “the big man” and suggested that he has orchestrated global deals that were enriching him personally. “I don’t make money from China. You do,” he said of Biden, per the Independent. “I don’t make money from Ukraine. You do. They even made a statement that they have to give 10% to the big man.” Biden, he suggested, was that “big man.” 

And then the first subject…..

Trump praised his administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, insisting that “we’re rounding the corner” and that that a vaccine is just weeks away. Biden, for his part, said anyone who has mismanaged things as badly as Trump doesn’t deserve to be president. Both covered familiar ground on the topic over a series of questions, and one exchange largely summed things up. “We’re learning to live with it,” said Trump, per CBS News. Biden responded, “People are learning to die with it.”

And now for the rest of the story….

The second presidential debate was a marked changed from the first one, with few interruptions as the candidates covered a range of topics, including COVID and corruption. Late in the forum, President Trump sought to score points on energy by asking Joe Biden if he would shut down the oil industry. “I would transition from the oil industry, yes,” responded Biden, saying the industry “pollutes” and should eventually be replaced with greener alternatives. “That’s a big statement,” said Trump, asking voters in Texas and Pennsylvania to remember it. Other moments:

  • BidenCare: Joe Biden promised to beef up ObamaCare, or the Affordable Care Act, if he’s elected. “What I’m going to do is pass ObamaCare with a public option, become BidenCare,” he said, per Politico.

Image

(still looks like the industry will control the benefits)

  • Racism: Trump again compared himself to Abraham Lincoln in terms of how much he has done to help Black Americans, and he pronounced himself “the least racist person in this room.” Biden responded, “Abraham Lincoln over here is the most racist president we’ve ever had.”
  • Track record: “Joe, I ran because of you,” said Trump. “I ran because of Barack Obama. Because you did a poor job. If I thought you did a good job, I would have never run,” he said. “You keep talking about all these things you’re going to do. But you were there just a short time ago and you guys did nothing.”
  • Family separations: Biden said the separation of families at the border violates “every notion of who we are as a nation.”
  • Minimum wage: Biden backed a $15 minimum wage for the US, saying, “No one should work one job, two jobs below poverty.” Trump said it could hurt businesses and should be a state decision, per USA Today.

I admit that this debate was far more watchable than the first…at least for me…but the best optics of the night was from Biden and his facial expressions during his “silent” time…..

Mercifully this will be the last 2020 debate there has been too much theatrics surrounding them…..

I think most Americans already know who they will vote for so this bit of drama was as useless as teats on a boar.

I hope you enjoyed this service….

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Debate–What To Expect Tonight

Just hours away from the silliness we call the presidential debates…..I will be watching just because I am a sucker of political theatrics…..if you are gonna watch and not wait for my analysis then this is what you can expect.

After a chaotic first debate and a second one that was replaced by dueling town halls, President Trump and Joe Biden will meet for a final debate in Nashville Thursday night. Under a rule change, each candidate’s mic will be muted for the first two minutes their rival speaks on each subject, meaning that there will probably be fewer interruptions than in the Cleveland clash—although since Trump’s main line of attack is expected to involve Biden’s son Hunter, analysts are not expecting it to be an entirely calm and sedate discussion. Biden is expected to focus on the economy and the pandemic. More:

  • The moderator. The Los Angeles Times describes NBC White House correspondent Kristen Welker as a “political junkie who got her dream job.” The Harvard-educated Welker has been assigned to the White House since 2011. She is the second Black woman to moderate a presidential debate. The first was former ABC anchor Carole Simpson, who moderated the second debate between George HW Bush, Bill Clinton, and Ross Perot in 1992.

  • After a chaotic first debate and a second one that was replaced by dueling town halls, President Trump and Joe Biden will meet for a final debate in Nashville Thursday night. Under a rule change, each candidate’s mic will be muted for the first two minutes their rival speaks on each subject, meaning that there will probably be fewer interruptions than in the Cleveland clash—although since Trump’s main line of attack is expected to involve Biden’s son Hunter, analysts are not expecting it to be an entirely calm and sedate discussion. Biden is expected to focus on the economy and the pandemic. More:

The moderator. The Los Angeles Times describes NBC White House correspondent Kristen Welker as a “political junkie who got her dream job.” The Harvard-educated Welker has been assigned to the White House since 2011. She is the second Black woman to moderate a presidential debate. The first was former ABC anchor Carole Simpson, who moderated the second debate between George HW Bush, Bill Clinton, and Ross Perot in 1992.

  • Biden’s dilemma over attacks on son. Politico reports that with Trump expected to attack Biden over Hunter’s business dealings, Democrats are divided over how the candidate should respond. Some say Biden should do more to highlight the conflicts of interest in Trump’s family, while others argue that he should just switch focus to the pandemic. “Do we really want to have a debate about politicians’ children when people are really struggling to no end? Throw a quick combo and get out,” suggests Democratic strategist James Carville.
  • Coronavirus precautions. An official from the Commission on Presidential Debates tells the Tennessean that both candidates will be tested for COVID-19 before the debate. Peter Eyre says the audience of around 200 people, including the candidates’ guests, will be required to wear masks and maintain social distancing. He says there will be “enforcement of the mask rule,” which did not happen in Cleveland, where Trump’s relatives removed their masks when the debate began.
  • How to watch. The debate begins at 9pm ET and will be carried on networks including ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox, Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, PBS, NBC, MSNBC, Noticias Telemundo, and C-SPAN, per the AP. The networks will also offer ways to watch the debate online through YouTube and other sites.

Or you can save yourself the agony of watching the two old farts go after each other…..and just wait for my analysis tomorrow.

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Pre-3rd And Final 2020 Presidential Debate

Tomorrow night we shall experience the last presidential debate before the general election…..and some things will be a bit different than in the past.

President Trump won’t be able to interrupt Joe Biden this time around—at least, not for the first two minutes of each of the six debate segments Thursday night. The nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates has changed its rules so that each candidate will get those two minutes of uninterrupted time for an opening statement, during which the other candidate’s mic will be muted, the Hill reports. For the rest of each 15-minute segment, “which by design is intended to be dedicated to open discussion,” the commission says, both mics will be on. The commission notes both campaigns had previously agreed to, and have recently reaffirmed, a commitment to giving each candidate two minutes of uninterrupted time to speak, and this rule change only serves to enforce that already-existing rule.

Even so, the Trump campaign has made clear it’s not happy with the change. “Regardless of last minute rule changes from the biased commission in their latest attempt to provide advantage to their favored candidate,” Trump will still participate in the debate, the campaign said in a statement after the rule change was announced Monday. Axios notes Trump had previously suggested he may not participate were mics to be cut off. Earlier Monday, the campaign had also complained about the range of topics announced for the debate, claiming that the commission had previously promised foreign policy would be the central focus (a claim the Biden campaign says is false). “The Commission’s pro-Biden antics have turned the entire debate season into a fiasco and it is little wonder why the public has lost faith in its objectivity,” campaign manager Bill Stepien said about that.

Will the final debate be the same fiasco the first was…..or will it take place at all?  Will it be theatrics or a real presentation of issues?

My analysis will be the day after the debate…..I suffer so you do not have to…..

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2020 Presidential Debate #2

For those that are waiting on the edge of their chairs or those that have not heard the news yet…..THERE WILL BE NO SECOND DEBATE!

It seems that the bully of the airways are afraid to debate virtually.

First came the decision to make the second debate virtual between President Trump and former VP Joe Biden. Now, an update: There’s won’t be a debate at all. Per CNN, the Commission on Presidential Debates has nixed the debate scheduled for Oct. 15 after Trump said he wouldn’t do the virtual format, with some worried he may still be contagious with COVID-19. Now, all eyes are on the debate that had been scheduled after that at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., on Oct. 22. The Wall Street Journal reports that Trump’s campaign had called for moving the dates for both debates back a week, but Biden’s camp refused that option. “It is now apparent there will be no debate on October 15,” the commission said in a statement. “Both candidates have agreed to participate in the October 22 debate.” That debate will be moderated by NBC anchor Kristen Welker.

On Oct. 15, Biden will instead participate in a town hall hosted by ABC News, NPR reports. Trump is hoping to hold a rally or a town hall on NBC, though plans for neither have been finalized. There’d been a bit of hubbub involving C-SPAN’s Steve Scully, the moderator set for the second debate, after a now-deleted tweet apparently sent by Scully to former White House communications chief Anthony Scaramucci emerged, in which Scully asked: “Should I respond to Trump?” Trump accused Scully of being a “Never Trumper,” per Politico. Scully, for his part, alleges he didn’t write that tweet, Fox News reports. Meanwhile, in South Carolina, another canceled debate: one set for Friday between GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham and his rival, Democrat Jaime Harrison, after Harrison said he wouldn’t attend if Graham didn’t take a COVID-19 test; Graham refused, the Hill reports. Instead, the two were interviewed in separate 30-minute segments on a local station.

What A Titty Baby!

How can any American support this coward?  (That is rhetorical)

Instead of a debate the two candidates had battling townhalls…..not everyone is pleased at this turn….

NBC News’ decision to host President Trump’s town hall Thursday night—which will air on the network at the same time ABC News is airing Joe Biden’s competing event—is not going over well in some circles. The Los Angeles Times reports #BoycottNBC is trending on Twitter, and even former NBC star Katie Couric weighed in: “Having dueling town halls is bad for democracy—voters should be able to watch both and I don’t think many will. This will be good for Trump because people like to watch his unpredictability. This is a bad decision.” Fox News rounds up more criticism, with one political analyst calling NBC’s decision “indefensible.”

President Trump refused the virtual format that was offered for the debate originally scheduled for Thursday, so the whole thing was scrapped, and Biden decided to do his town hall instead. Trump’s decision came next, and Couric is not the only former NBC person accusing the network of capitulating to the POTUS. “I am dismayed—more like disgusted—by NBC’s decision to air Trump’s ‘I won’t play by the rules so let me make my own rules’ town hall opposite Biden’s,'” a former executive VP posted on Facebook; a former producer also said it’s a bad idea. And a reporter tweeted, “I’ve heard from over a dozen NBC, MSNBC, and CNBC sources (talent and staff) and the frustration with and anger toward their employer for scheduling a town hall against Biden is palpable.” The network has not weighed in on the criticism.

What a waste!

Debate #3 will be (as of this printing) on 22 October….and I will be watching….so you do not have to…..

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Will There Be More Presidential Debates?

There is a whole bunch of analysis on whether there will be another debate between Biden and Trump since he has had the virus and needs to be 14 days without contact…..

Trump has made his thoughts known about the idea of a virtual debate…..

A clamor to make the remaining debates between President Trump and former VP Joe Biden virtual broke out this week, with the New York Times editorial board noting that “under the current circumstances, it would be irresponsible for the show to go on as planned.” It looks like those calls were heard, at least for the debate coming up next—though Trump says he won’t take part. The nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates made the announcement Thursday morning, a week before the two were scheduled to face off in Miami: “In order to protect the health and safety of all involved” in the Oct. 15 “town meeting,” the candidates will “participate from separate remote locations,” while other participants and the moderator remain in Miami, the commission said. What followed:

Shortly after the commission’s announcement, Trump said he won’t take part if it’s going to be a remote format, per the Washington Post. “I’m not going to waste my time on a virtual debate,” he told Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business Network. “That’s not what debating is all about.” He added, per Politico, “You sit behind a computer and do a debate. It’s ridiculous, and then they cut you off whenever they want.”

  • His campaign manager echoed that in more colorful language, with Bill Stepien saying the commission was full of “swamp creatures” who made a “pathetic” choice. He noted that by Oct. 15 the president won’t be positive for COVID and added, “We’ll pass on this sad excuse to bail out Joe Biden and do a rally instead,” per the Wall Street Journal.
  • Fox News reports Biden weighed in while talking to reporters in Delaware: “We don’t know what the president is going to do, he changes his mind every second, so for me to comment on that now would be irresponsible. I’m going to follow the commission recommendations.”
  • The Biden campaign echoed that, expressing that Biden would be present on Oct. 15: “Vice President Biden looks forward to speaking directly to the American people and comparing his plan for bringing the country together and building back better with Donald Trump’s failed leadership on the coronavirus that has thrown the strong economy he inherited into the worst downturn since the Great Depression.”

Trump does not want a virtual debate because he cannot act up and show his ass and feed his supporters lust for ignorance.

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“lego ergo scribo”