I keep up with national politics because the decisions lawmakers make in Washington, D.C., have real-life consequences for everyone. What they say and do really matters. Political debates, on the other hand, are largely theater, and they always have been since the first one in 1960 between Kennedy and Nixon. They are about perception. They’re about how well candidates can deliver their messages. They’re about likeability, and they’re about how knowledgeable candidates are about domestic and international policy. Obviously, when people vote, they are supporting a certain political philosophy, but they are also voting on the individual they think can best run the nation.
That said, I felt like a masochist watching the debate Tuesday night between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. It was a train wreck of massive proportions, the likes of which I have never witnessed in American politics, and it was painful to watch all the way through. It really did feel like I was watching two professional wrestlers cut competing promos on each other. It lacked decorum. It lacked a sense of mutual respect between the candidates, and it lacked control.
One candidate looked angry and full of contempt the whole time. He was loud. He looked cold and distant. He never once looked at the camera. He was combative, both with his opponent and with the moderator, Chris Wallace. He was void of facts and heavy on lies and misinformation. Trump continued to make unsubstantiated claims about the mail-in voter process and refused to say he would concede the election if he lost. He gave a chilling nod to so-called “poll watchers,” who he thinks should be allowed to stand around voting sites and intimidate people. He was provided with a clear opening to once and for all denounce racists and white supremacists in his own party, and he demurred, telling the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by,” whatever that means. A day later, he claimed that he didn’t know who the Proud Boys were. His reference, then, was oddly specific for a man who isn’t familiar with the group. And perhaps, most disgusting of all, he attacked Biden’s son, Hunter, for previous substance abuse issues that Biden said his son had subsequently conquered.
For his part, Biden did not give a great performance either. He stumbled over his words and looked as is he was struggling to get out what he wanted to say at times. He did provide a couple brief moments of substance when he outlined a plan to help the economy while creating jobs in the process and gave some ideas for managing the Covid-19 crisis. Trump’s answer to the environment and wildfires seemed to be limited to forest management, as if he didn’t realize that the U.S. Forest Service already has forest managers charged with proper upkeep of the national parks.
Wallace, meanwhile, lost control of the debate in the first few minutes. Trump relentlessly talked over Biden and Wallace and continually flaunted the rules allowing for uninterrupted talking segments. At several points, all three were trying to talk over each other, and it quickly became a complete boondoggle. Wallace should have had the power to cut one of their microphones mid-sentence if one of the candidates went off the rails or violated the terms of the debate. It will be interesting to see how the networks and the debate commission address the rules going forward.
I wish there was more to say from a substance perspective, but there really isn’t. There were numerous insults thrown in both directions — Biden calling Trump a “clown” and the worst president in American history and Trump claiming that he had done more in 47 months than Biden has done in 47 years in government — and the most interruptions and talk-overs than I have seen in any debate. Trump interrupted Biden an astounding 73 times.
In all, Biden had the best performance because he at least tried to offer a little substance, and for that, he’ll probably pull some votes away from Trump, whereas the president, while brash and combative the entire time, which I’m sure his supporters loved, at least didn’t trip over his words. It was more like a continuous stream of bile. I will say that the big plus for Biden was that he repeatedly talked to the camera and directly to us. Trump, by contrast, didn’t address the American people a single time.
In one of the most consequential and crucial times in American history, we needed more substance. While the theater aspect of it was certainly entertaining, this debate was a sad affair of two old white guys — make that three old white guys — bickering for 90 minutes while the nation’s collective jaw stood agape.