Commentary

I watched the first debate last Tuesday evening out of a sort of morbid curiosity to see whether Joe Biden would collapse like a house of cards and be escorted off the stage by men in white coats.

Pundits have been making hay of the fact that Biden often trips over his words, seems to have trouble finishing a thought and hasn’t been campaigning very vigorously.

Thankfully, Biden seemed fairly coherent and he was tuned up with talking points to address the questions by moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News.

He did have a few instances where he made mistakes. Near the end, he was carrying on about support for the “Green New Deal,” and Trump made a huge “schreeeeech” and backed up to get Biden to confirm what he had just said, but Biden retracted it.

Another time, Biden spoke a few phrases that were disconnected and didn’t seem to be on topic, his voice trailing off, but he was mercifully “saved by the bell” as Wallace shifted gears with another question. I am not saying Wallace was covering for the former vice president; it was, I believe, fortunate timing for Biden.

Biden, as reported by conservative media, has experienced instances where his train of thought becomes, well, derailed. He seems to always start to make a statement and then he halts, and says “Look…” and goes off on another tangent. His gaffes have been well documented.

In the debate, whenever he seemed to be losing traction, he would look right into the lens, and appeal to blue-collar America.

The topics of the debate included the upcoming Supreme Court appointment, response to the coronavirus, the economy, law and order, climate change, Trump’s tax returns and other current affairs.

President Donald J. Trump didn’t do a lot of dancing around. He waded in with some serious slugging.

He pinned Biden down on law and order. Biden was loathe to speak the words “law and order,” even when goaded to by Trump. Biden can’t say “law enforcement” for fear of alienating his radical support base, according to Trump.

Trump named several Democratically controlled cities which were plagued by “mostly peaceful” demonstrations and rioting last summer. He scored points, in my opinion, on how Democratic mayors and governors mishandled the situations.

But Trump was frustrating. Just ask Chris Wallace. He is such a New York brawler, and has had to be in view of the abuse of Russian Collusion and impeacment that has been heaped upon him since Election Day, 2016, that he wouldn’t extend the courtesy to not interrupt. That didn’t put Trump in very good light, but then, he is passionate about his positions and doesn’t cotton any crap from anyone.

Not one mention about the Middle East Peace Deal.

And Biden wasn’t all that gracious either, calling the president a “clown” and, at one point, exclaiming “Will you shuddup?”

Biden want’s Trump to wait on replacing the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg so that the American people could “weigh in” by electing senators.

Trump scored some points by underscoring the ineffectiveness of the Obama-Biden administration, which left some 130 vacant judgeships for the incoming president to fill. I think the confidence was so high that Hillary Clinton would win in 2016 that Obama left the openings for her to fill, then didn’t get busy in the transition period naming those judges.

On COVID-19, Biden asserted, without proof, that Trump bungled the response, whining that 200,000 Americans are dead because of Trump. The president ticked of his actions, point by point, to refute Biden’s claims. Problem for Trump is that the so-called experts have been advising the Oval Office, yet that advice has swung wildly from one extreme to another.

I side with Trump regarding the economy. Say what you will, but Obama and Biden did not

“hand” Trump a “booming economy.” I remember in 2012, news reports about how business was in the starting blocks to begin investing in American, should Mitt Romney be elected. When Obama won a second term, they clicked their ballpoint pens, put them back in their shirt pockets, and continued skunking along until Trump won.

Are you worried about the shouts for socialism going on in our country? I am.

People who advocate for that economic system are nuts. They haven’t read their history. Socialism has never worked and people die under socialist regimes.

Somehow they believe that, with socialism, everything will be free and swell, and just like it is now. Remember the lie of Obamacare? It’s official name is “The Affordable Care Act.” It isn’t affordable, that’s for sure.

As Trump and Biden argued under the health care topic, Biden made absurd claims about how great the plan was. Trump correctly pointed out that socialized medicine will kill the health insurance industry.

Trump pointed out that the Democratic Party is “going socialist” and Biden’s response was “My party is me. I am the Democratic Party.” Remember: Biden’s running mate is one of the most radical of Democrats.

Biden spent most of the evening on the ropes, I believe, up against a street-smart Trump who carefully gauged his opponent’s state of mind and then waded in.

But Trump didn’t win any friends by constantly interrupting and talking over both Biden and the moderator.

Can’t say who won.