Blogger Candidate Forum: Presidential Debate Round One: Dumpster Fire

 

The candidates
projects.fivethirtyeight.com

Hello Everyone:

The Candidate Forum is again tapping in today, on a toasty Wednesday, with debate round analysis.  Remember yesterday when The Candidate Forum wondered how it would take for the debate to go from zero to WTF?  The answer was .025 seconds.  How would The Candidate Forum describe round one?  Hmm, a dumpster fire are two words that come to mind.  Chaotic would be another way to describe what transpired on the stage.  The Candidate Forum has been watching the debates for quite some time and this, by far, was the worst debate in American history.  The incumbent president Mr. Donald Trump's (R-NY) strategy seemed to be heckle, interrupt, distract.  It was the wrong the strategy because it made him look like a petulant child throwing a tantrum because mummy would not take him to McDonald's.  While former Vice President Joe Biden (D-DE) strategy was to stay calm and not get baited into a verbal brawl.  That was the right way to go.  The moderator Chris Wallace left The Candidate Forum wondering where was he?  Instead of tightly controlling the free-for-all, he seemed to disappear from view.  In between all the shouting, what did the Gentleman from Delaware and the incumbent president actually have to say for themselves?  Before we dive into the chaos, The Candidate Forum wants to know, do you have a plan to vote?

If you made your plan to vote, pat yourself on the back and go vote.  If you have not, there is still time to do so.  All you have to do is go to iwillvote.org and make you plan.  The most important thing you can do is vote.  Onward

Debate moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News
townandcountrymag.com

Not much in the way of substantive policy.  If they did say anything worth listening to, was lost in all the noise.  Therefore, it probably is not worth getting into the contest's good points because there really was not any except for the fact that everyone made it out alive and The Candidate Forum retain its sanity.  Let us focus, then, how, what should have been a serious discussion on the issues, went so horribly off the rails so quickly.  Let us start with the incumbent president.

Early voting has begun in many states and already millions of people have cast their ballots.  If the polling data is accurate, then it suggest the president is losing badly.  Thus, he urgently needed a stellar performance to change the dynamic of the race.  Sitting through that agonizing ninety minute train wreck did absolutely nothing to accomplish that goal.

If you are an avid Trump supporter--and The Candidate Forum suspects that some of you are--you would say the incumbent president dominated the debate and you would be right.  He dominated by bullying, baiting, and heckling both the Gentleman from Delaware and Mr. Wallace and every turn.  Sure, it is exciting to watch you champion take command of the field but did you really need a debate to convince you to vote for him?  Honestly, the steady stream of interruptions forced The Candidate Forum to turn down the volume.  The Candidate Forum was appalled that the duly elected President of The United States would would make outlandish claims, I brought back football and patently false claims about his record and that of his opponent as well as refer to a sitting United States senator by a racial slur.  The incumbent president deliberately misrepresented the Gentleman from Delaware's reference to his late son Beau's military record so he could circle back to go after his other son, Hunter.  When pressed to condemn white supremacists including the Proud Boys, he told them Stand back and stand by (cnn.com; Sept. 30, 2020) whatever that means.

The Right Honorable John Bercow
Former Speaker of the House of Commons
en.wikipedia.org

Honestly, Chris Wallace did make a valiant attempt to keep the free-for-all from going completely off a cliff.  In fact no one would have blamed him for calling for a time out and telling the incumbent president to either stop acting like a petulant child or leave the stage.  After watching the incumbent president spew verbal salad, The Candidate Forum decided that perhaps the next debate, scheduled for October 15th, should be moderated by former Speaker of the House of Commons, the Right Honorable John Bercow.  All the British gentleman has to do is shout ORDER! at full volume once or twice and there would be no more interruptions.  Take a look for yourselves https://youtu.be/KIP0-6G3WSU.

In all seriousness, Chris Wallace is a respected journalist and presenter who knows how to expertly control an interview which is why is was so amazing to see him lose control of the debate within the first five minutes.  Even more surprising was Mr. Wallace's inability to wrest any policy specifics out of either Mr. Trump or former VPOTUS Biden.  Although, he did repeatedly ask the incumbent president about whether he did pay only $750 in federal estate taxes in 2016 and 2017 like The New York Times reported, finally getting Mr. Trump to say " he had paid millions of dollars in federal income tax" (cnn.com; Sept. 30, 2020).  Sure.

The basic rules of a debate
slideshare.net

Believe or not there were rules for round one of the presidential debate.  Both parties spent months  negotiating how long each of their standard bearers would have to speak, uninterrupted, before the open discussion period.  That flew out the window faster than you can say MAGA.  No sooner did the Gentleman from Delaware open his mouth to speak did the incumbent president interrupt.  At one point the Gentleman from Delaware finally had enough and told his opponent to shut up.  Yes, really.  Debates need rules.  The rules give it structure and both parties agree to follow.  The Republicans and Democrats agreed to follow the rules they negotiated for, at least in theory.  When one side does not follow the established rules, it is not a debate.  It is nothing more than a free-for-all.

Former VPOTUS Joe Biden (D-DE)
jsonline.com 

Former Vice President Joe Biden got off to a shaky start.  When asked whether a Supreme Court seat should be filled so close to an election, his seemed to ramble.  This was a surprise because the Gentleman from Delaware had to know that this question was going to come up.  Fortunately, he gathered steamed by the middle of the debate, particularly when discussing the incumbent president's lethally inept handling of COVID-19.  However, on more than one occasion he did allow himself to get dragged into the gutter.  While his base rejoiced when he told Trump to shut and called him a "clown"--as did a lot of other people on The Candidate Forum's social media feeds--it was hard to reconcile how those flashes of anger with his core message of restoring decency and leadership to the White House.  As previously stated, this first round of debates did very little to change the dynamics of the race, which is a good thing for the Gentleman from Delaware because he is ahead.  That said, he has a tendency to play into the incumbent president's hand with insults and exaggerations.  Going forward, he needs to remember this truism: "Don't get down in the mud with the pig, because you both get dirty and the pig likes it" (cnn.com; Sept. 30, 2020).

commons.wikimedia.org

There are two more presidential and one vice presidential debates on the schedule between now and Election Day, November 3rd.  Current VPOTUS Mike Pence (R-IN) and Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) are on deck next week and, of course The Candidate Forum will present the pre- and post-game analysis.  Be that as it may, after yesterday's dumpster fire, do we really two more like that?  

If you are Team Biden, why on earth would you subject your standard bearer to more particular form of torture, knowing full well that he would be diminished just by walking out on stage?  "The Commission on Presidential Debates is a powerful organization" (cnn.com; Sept. 30, 2020).  Both campaigns understand that these debates draw more attention than either one of them can get on their own.  Regardless, The Commission will have to have a serious discussion about whether to hold the remaining two presidential debates and how beneficial it would be for still undecided voters.  If they decide to go ahead with the remaining two debates, they will have to impose and enforce stricter rules.  One suggestion that was floated 

online was the moderator being able to cut off the candidates' microphones.

Regardless of what The Commission of Presidential Debates decides, something has change because another round of watching two seventy-something-year-old men go at it is its own unique form of torture.    

Blogger Candidate Forum: Time To Throw Down, Debate Round One

 

theguardian.com

Hello Everyone:

The Blogger Candidate Forum is tapping in today and tomorrow with pre- and post-game analysis.  If you are an election nerd, like The Candidate Forum, you live for days like this.  Only election day is more exciting, speaking of which, voting is underway in some states.  The Candidate Forum has a question for you: Have you made a plan?

If you did make a plan to vote, good for you.  If you have not made a plan, there are 34 days, 10 hours, and 39 seconds left until Election Day, November 3, 2020.  Time to put your skates on and make a plan.  You can go to vote.org or text VOTE to 30330.  If you can safely vote in-person, make sure you pack provisions (food, beverage, phone charger, mask, hand sanitizer), get in line, and stay in line.  You cannot be denied a ballot if you are in line after the polls close.  Now then, what urban issues would like to see the candidates discuss?

The candidates
wbur.org

This evening's first round of debates will focus on some of the most pressing challenges of this year: COVID-19 and the economy to election integrity.  No doubt at some point, the nuclear bomb New York Times article will be brought up at some point but The Candidate Forum can only speculate that it will come up with in context to a section on the economy or not.  Regardless of when and or if the subject does come up, the COVID-19 pandemic will be one of the dominant theme of themes of the contest.

Real fact first, last week the United States recorded 200,000 pandemic deaths last week, globally it surpassed 1 million and unemployment continuing to climb, Mr. Trump will have to account for his lethally inept response to the pandemic while VPOTUS Joe Biden (D-DE) will have his first chance to outline his pandemic response.  Thus far, we can only speculate about what the Gentleman from Delaware would do differently but The Candidate Forum feels confident in saying it would not be wasting two precious months ignoring it.  

Voters lining up in Wisconsin
startribune.com

The pandemic has also upended the traditional election cycle (to say the very least), sowing very real concerns about the integrity and safety of one of the most hallowed of American institutions.  The incumbent president has not helped matters by tweeting or pontificating about nonsense such as voting twice or throwing out ballots.  Even worse, rushing to fill a Supreme Court seat in order to possibly throw the election his way.  The incumbent president's scare mongering and further threats to the right to vote has made in-person particularly risky for African American and other voters of color.  Real fact: BIPOC  have "an age-adjusted  COVID-19 hospitalization rate about 5.3 times that of non-Hispanic white people.  COVID-19 hospitalization rates among non-Hispanic Black people and Hispanic or Latino were both about 4.7 times the rate of non-Hispanic white people" (mayoclinic.org; Aug. 13, 2020; date accessed Sept. 29, 2020).  Although many states are expanding their mail-in ballot program in the interest of public health and safety. Health and safety concerns do not seem to be on the mind of the incumbent president's mind given that he has doubled down on his campaign against its legitimacy.

wbur.org

At some point during the debate, host and moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News, will steer the conversation towards this summer's wave of protests against police brutality in a segment titled "Race and Violence in Our Cities" (citylab.com: Sept. 29, 2020).  The title of this segment of the debate has rightly drawn criticism for reinforcing the out-dated and, frankly misguided, notion that American cities are crime-infested cesspools and African American are inherently violent (citylab.com: Sept. 29, 2020).  Be that as it may, this anachronistic understanding of urban America implies that the summer of protests against America's long history of systemic racism is holding cities hostage, a narrative that the incumbent president has consistently used to delegitimize the Black Live Matter organization and punish cities that allow the protests to take place.  This rationale has found its way into the manner in which law enforcement agencies blame the recent spike in shootings and homicides "on the 'anti-police rhetoric that's permeating our country,'" (citylab.com: Sept. 29, 2020), according to the Detroit chief of police.

Other subjects up for discussion this evening include the future of the Supreme Court and the candidates' respective records.  What is surprisingly not on this evening's agenda is climate change, despite the fact that hurricanes and wildfires ravage cities and polling data suggests that it has become an increasingly important issue for voters.  No surprise, previous presidential debates have made little or no mention of the consequences of climate and the racial disparity of those who are the most affected by it.

What should you pay attention to?  Both candidates are going into the contest with different incentives.  For the incumbent president, it is a much needed chance shake up the race and the Gentleman from Delaware the debate poses risks.  He will be facing off against an opponent who can and will of say anything, at any time.  Second, how quickly will the debate go from zero to off the rails? In debates with former Secretary of State Hillary, Mr, Trump has demonstrated his ability to draw his opponent into verbal jousting matches over character.  VPOTUS Joe Biden has been well-advised and prepared to avoid that mistake.  The Gentleman from Delaware can also benefit from lower expectations.  For months the incumbent president has be arguing that the Gentleman from Delaware has somehow lost it.  Never mind the fact that the incumbent president has a tendency to spew his own version of verbal salad.  Fourth, how quickly will the incumbent president get under the Gentleman from Delaware's skin?  Mr. Trump has run attack lines about Hunter Biden and allegations against the former vice president of sexual misconduct.  Just remember that when he debated Madame Secretary right after that infamous Access Hollywood tape, the now-incumbent president managed to turn it back on to for President Bill Clinton's own history of sexual misconduct.  Fifth, shall we be honest?  The incumbent president lacks the capability to demonstrate empathy with struggling Americans.  Empathy is one of the Gentleman from Delaware's strongest hands and could prove critical.  Sixth, we know that the incumbent president frequently spouts claims that have dubious veracity.  When Madame Secretary tried to fact check her opponent, it failed.  If the Gentleman from Delaware tries to fact check his opponent, he could find himself playing into the incumbent president's hand.  If he ignores, the critics will wonder what did VPOTUS Biden let the president get away with.  Will there be any fireworks?  Stay tuned.

Blogger Candidate Forum will back tomorrow with the post-game analysis.