Contrasts drawn in normal debate
Without interruption, Biden far from spectacular but solid enough as frontrunner in homestretch
Installing a mute button for a presidential debate turned out to be a great idea.
With both President Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden silenced for the first two minutes of their opponent’s initial responses, Americans were able to actually hear more substance — or at least what the candidates said — at Thursday’s final presidential debate in Nashville.
Some Americans — such as those among the 48 million people who have already cast ballots — may have watched just for fun. But the 90minute debate did provide a few insights for the dwindling number of undecided voters.
Some takeaways: Missed opportunity: This debate, 12 days before election day, was the time to close the deal with voters.
Trump didn’t do that. Biden did.
Behind in most battleground state polls, Trump not only had to consolidate his base of conservative white voters, but had to win back suburban women and older Americans who supported him four years ago but have migrated to his Democratic opponent in 2020.
It’s doubtful they could follow Trump’s train of thought, however, unless they’re steeped in conservative media. With tens of millions of potentially persuadable people watching, Trump spent a large amount of time in the debate’s
crucial opening minutes making vague references to conspiracy theories about the international business dealings of the Biden not on the ticket — Joe’s son Hunter — and unsupported accusations about the former vice president being paid by foreign countries.
When pressed on his failures to combat the coronavirus pandemic or produce a health care plan to replace the Affordable Care Act, Trump sounded like he wasn’t the sitting president. Instead of offering solutions, he attacked Biden, saying at one point, “Why didn’t you do it? You had eight years with ( former President Barack) Obama. You know why, Joe? Because you’re all talk and no action.”
Biden wasn’t spectacular — Biden doesn’t do spectacular — but he was solid enough that his lead in the polls won’t be threatened by this debate. A line about the oil industry needing to be “replaced by renewable energy over time” won’t help him in close states like Pennsylvania and Texas that have large fossil fuel industries, but it may have appeal for large swaths of voters worried that the clock has run out on climate change.
He even managed to turn Trump’s attacks on Hunter Biden’s business dealings in Ukraine and China into something of a plus, when he looked into the camera and said, “It’s not about his family and my family. It’s about your family, and your family is hurting badly.”
Bottom line: Trump did fine with a base that loves a belligerent approach. Biden was aiming for something more.
“I am the least racist person in this room. Nobody has done more for the Black community than Donald Trump.” President Trump
“You know his character, you know my character. You know our reputations for honor and telling the truth.” Joe Biden
A return to normality:
The debate made news by resembling most presidential debates.
After the debacle of the first faceoff Sept. 29, in which Trump repeatedly interrupted Biden and the crosstalk made it nearly impossible to follow along, the nonpartisan commission that oversees the debates announced that when each candidate was giving his introductory answer in a topic section, the other candidate’s microphone would be muted.
In the end, the mute feature worked in that it wasn’t necessary. Both candidates allowed the other to speak with minimal interruptions.
That allowed for a debate that was downright normal, and let the contrast in candidates come through. On topics from the coronavirus to health care, racism, immigration and climate change, clear differences were on display — and audible.
For Trump, the goal was to portray Biden as just another politician who had not accomplished any of his pledged polices during a long tenure in the Senate and as vice president.
“He’s been in government 47 years, he never did a thing,” Trump said.
Biden adopted a folksy delivery, including frequent uses of “c’mon” and his signature “malarkey,” in targeting Trump’s capacity to lead and speaking directly to voters. In response to a stream of accusations from Trump, many false, Biden said he had earned Americans’ trust over those 47 years in government.
“You know who I am. Who knows who he is?” Biden said. “You know his character, you know my character. You know our reputations for honor and telling the truth.”
Recitation of grievances:
Trump may have muted the interruptions and shouting, but he continued his complaints about the way he has been treated during his time in office.
The president professed astonishment that he has been criticized for his record on dealing with Black people and other racial groups.
“I am the least racist person in this room,” he said.
“Nobody has done more for the Black community than Donald Trump,” the president said. “And if you look, with the possible exception of Abraham Lincoln ... nobody has done what I’ve done.”
Trump also argued that “no president should ever have to go through what I went through,” claiming again without evidence that even before he was elected, the Obama administration “spied on my campaign.”
“I was put though a phony witch hunt for three years,” the president said, returning to the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Special Counsel Robert Mueller “and 18 angry Democrats went through everything I had,” he said, “and they found absolutely no collusion and nothing wrong.”
Trump blamed his refusal to release his taxes on bad faith by the Internal Revenue Service, saying he gets “treated worse than the Tea Party.”
“Deep down in the IRS, they treat me horribly,” Trump said, saying that he wanted to make his taxes public until tax officials backed away from an unspecified deal. “I get treated very badly by the IRS. Very unfairly.”