# 2020 POTUS Debate 1 (29 September) follow-along and discussion thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 30, 2020, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-potus-debate-1-29-september-follow-along-and-discussion-thread/921854 "2020-09-30T00:30:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 19
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2020, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-potus-debate-1-29-september-follow-along-and-discussion-thread/921854/361 "2020-09-30T04:33:14Z")
IMHO, both delivered a mangled, embarassing mess to be collectively ashamed of. That being said, for Biden, a draw is as good as a win. He’s leading big, so the only way Trump could catch up would be to score clear, lopsided victories in the debates, and he clearly didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2020, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-potus-debate-1-29-september-follow-along-and-discussion-thread/921854/362 "2020-09-30T04:40:36Z")
I used to admire Chris Wallace, but no more. Trump walked all over him. If I were moderator, I’d tell that orange fucker to shut up once in a while, although Biden was no saint in this department, either. Wallace was a milquetoast. I enjoyed it when Biden called Trump a clown. About time. ---
**Author:** ![Reginald\_Knutsen\_the\_3rd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85e7bf/32.png) [@Reginald\_Knutsen\_the\_3rd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reginald_Knutsen_the_3rd)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2020, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-potus-debate-1-29-september-follow-along-and-discussion-thread/921854/363 "2020-09-30T04:44:46Z")
Biden decisively mopped the floor with the unhinged cokehead. He punched him in the mouth right out the gate with Trumps own signature attacks, did so at least 7 or 8 times more which was completely unexpected by everybody. It was refreshing to finally hear someone call the idiot an idiot to his face. He rolled with, blocked and deflected all the illegal flurries, overruns and drowning babble attempts. Showed absolutely zero of his cards that he didn’t have to relating to the policy clickbait snips that these debates are actually about, won the battles of posture, intellect and poise and Trump completely unraveled at the end. What you saw tonight was 47 years of political savvy on display vs a childish dipshit tyrant who has one stupid punch that never landed. Wallace also handled Trump as well as you possibly can. Apparently people don’t understand that you can’t tell an unbridled egopath high on amphetamines on the grandest stage of his life to reel it in. You’d need a bevy of tranquilizer darts to get that jackass to adhere to structure. Wallace was admonishing him like the child he is over and over again, not much more you can do. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2020, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-potus-debate-1-29-september-follow-along-and-discussion-thread/921854/364 "2020-09-30T04:45:29Z")
With a debate like that, both participants will come out looking bad. There was nothing Biden could have done to look good or put forth reasonable points when a crazy guy is talking over him. But more important than the debate is the post-debate spin, and Biden has a huge advantage here. The Biden campaign gets to draw attention to how unhinged and rude Trump was. Trump has nothing comparable to pin on Biden. ---
**Author:** ![ricksummon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ricksummon/32/3333_2.png) [@ricksummon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricksummon)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2020, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-potus-debate-1-29-september-follow-along-and-discussion-thread/921854/365 "2020-09-30T04:49:26Z")
A [CNN post-debate poll](https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/9/29/1981923/-BREAKING-CNN-instant-poll-gives-it-to-Biden?utm_campaign=trending) has 60% of debate-watchers giving Biden the debate win, while only 28% said Trump won. A CBS poll in the same article showed that 6% more people said the debate made them think better of Biden than worse of him, while 18% more said the debate made them think worse of Trump than better. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2020, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-potus-debate-1-29-september-follow-along-and-discussion-thread/921854/366 "2020-09-30T04:58:09Z")
I didn’t watch the thing. I’m admitting it. And from what I’m seeing here and elsewhere, I’m glad. I imagine — I know — it’s very frustrating to watch in the moment as your guy seems to miss opportunities to land a counterpunch on the whining, dissembling doofus, who seems to be landing haymakers at will. (And let’s face it – the left has been waiting four years for someone to get on a stage with Trump and unload on him.) But from the post-debate stuff that’s already trickling in, it seems Biden is yet again vindicated in sticking with his more moderate and modest demeanor. The few (but real) viewers still genuinely undecided about who to vote for are not going to come away with a lot of positive reasons to vote for Trump. Like **TroutMan** notes, Biden doesn’t seem to have made the kind of stumbles that are going to dog him over the next few days, while Trump and his surrogates are going to be talking about the Proud Boys (to name just one thing) probably until the second debate. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2020, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-potus-debate-1-29-september-follow-along-and-discussion-thread/921854/367 "2020-09-30T04:59:59Z")
Remember when Republicans weren’t embarrassing? I mean they’ve been terrible for as long as I’ve been alive, but at least they didn’t used to be embarrassing. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2020, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-potus-debate-1-29-september-follow-along-and-discussion-thread/921854/368 "2020-09-30T05:35:53Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > Not being snarky but do you think there is a fence sitting minority out there (which has to be an endangered species) that made up their mind during this debate and the proud boy statement? > [@carrps](#): > > This. Who does Trump need? Suburban women? This performance will drive them away in droves. One of my Facebook friends is an ex-coworker of mine. She is anti-Trump but she started a both-sides-doing-it post about the “toddler debate”. Knowing my friend, her respondents are mostly upper middle class white people. There were actually participants saying that they had hoped to find out about what the candidates stood for and what plans they had. It was disheartening to see how little attention they are apparently paying to the news if they thought they would get answers from a “debate” with Donald Trump. No one mentioned any actual substance of the “debate” so the Proud Boys weren’t part of the conversation. I’m not sure they even heard any substance. They were fixated on the process (“What happened to decency?!” and I was tempted, but did not say, “Trump”) and that both sides had destroyed it. So it looks like there are folks out there who haven’t made up their minds. And they are very low-information voters living in the suburbs. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2020, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-potus-debate-1-29-september-follow-along-and-discussion-thread/921854/369 "2020-09-30T05:38:44Z")
The Republican shrieking has people so afraid of appearing “biased” that they always couch their condemnation of Republicans in terms of “both sides.” I remember politics comics of 2016 acted as though both Hillary and Trump were unhinged and senile, because, you know, it would be biased to say that Hillary was smart and competent and Trump is a walking disaster. This false balance is bullshit and aids and abets the absolute batshittery the Republican party has undergone. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2020, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-potus-debate-1-29-september-follow-along-and-discussion-thread/921854/370 "2020-09-30T05:47:05Z")
The “senile” thing is happening today too. - [The Trump campaign spent months portraying Biden as senile. That might be a mistake.](https://www.vox.com/2020/9/29/21493743/trump-biden-debate-senile-low-bar) ---
**Author:** ![Win\_Place\_Show](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/win_place_show/32/13469_2.png) [@Win\_Place\_Show](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Win_Place_Show)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2020, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-potus-debate-1-29-september-follow-along-and-discussion-thread/921854/371 "2020-09-30T05:50:46Z")
I’ve seen it stated elsewhere that that is a Twitter Poll (whatever the fk that is) and that the results are very easy to manipulate. Not sure how reliable that hearsay is but I was a little more relieved that those results seem to mean nothing. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2020, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-potus-debate-1-29-september-follow-along-and-discussion-thread/921854/372 "2020-09-30T06:12:01Z")
Clearly you do not understand what the word ‘articulate’ means. Or ‘oratory’. Or ‘ganed’. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2020, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-potus-debate-1-29-september-follow-along-and-discussion-thread/921854/373 "2020-09-30T06:53:22Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > I used to admire Chris Wallace, but no more. Trump walked all over him. If I were moderator, I’d tell that orange fucker to shut up once in a while, although Biden was no saint in this department, either. Wallace was a milquetoast. I enjoyed it when Biden called Trump a clown. About time. Wallace attempted to halt Trump’s interruptions frequently and loudly, it’s just that TRUMP IGNORED HIM. Short of physical restraint or assault, what exactly was a moderator supposed to do? There was no mute button to use. If you know what he should have done differently, I’m open to your suggestions. I also enjoyed hearing Trump being bitched out by Biden. It was badly needed since before the inauguration. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lantern2/32/3010_2.png) [@Lantern2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern2)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2020, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-potus-debate-1-29-september-follow-along-and-discussion-thread/921854/374 "2020-09-30T06:57:14Z")
Personally I thought Wallace was OK under the circumstances. Unless he was given the ability to turn off the mike there is little that he could do when Trump was so flagrantly violating the rules. He called out Trump several times and made it clear that he was the one to blame. He could have been more forceful and shouted down Trump but that is probably not his personality. I suspect that future moderators will be more prepared and tougher on Trump. As it is I don’t think Trump did himself any good by arguing so much with Wallace. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lantern2/32/3010_2.png) [@Lantern2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern2)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2020, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-potus-debate-1-29-september-follow-along-and-discussion-thread/921854/375 "2020-09-30T07:00:56Z")
Actually on thinking about it, the obvious solution is that when one speaker is given the “two minutes uninterrupted”, the other speaker’s mike should be turned off automatically. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2020, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-potus-debate-1-29-september-follow-along-and-discussion-thread/921854/376 "2020-09-30T07:27:49Z")
I think Mark Hamill should have the last word: [ Mark Hamill @HamillHimself ](https://twitter.com/HamillHimself) [27m](https://twitter.com/HamillHimself/status/1311198722001235968) That debate was the worst thing I’ve ever seen & I was in The Star Wars Holiday Special. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2020, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-potus-debate-1-29-september-follow-along-and-discussion-thread/921854/377 "2020-09-30T07:49:15Z")
> [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#): > > Wallace attempted to halt Trump’s interruptions frequently and loudly, it’s just that TRUMP IGNORED HIM. This is how trump deals with everything he doesn’t like-- lawsuits, subpoenas, questions from reporters, facts, you name it. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2020, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-potus-debate-1-29-september-follow-along-and-discussion-thread/921854/378 "2020-09-30T07:51:08Z")
Deleted. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2020, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-potus-debate-1-29-september-follow-along-and-discussion-thread/921854/379 "2020-09-30T07:56:11Z")
I know they both prepped heavily, so I am wondering if his proclamation to his “Proud Boys” was preplanned. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2020, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-potus-debate-1-29-september-follow-along-and-discussion-thread/921854/380 "2020-09-30T08:10:39Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I know they both prepped heavily, so I am wondering if his proclamation to his “Proud Boys” was preplanned.- You’re suggesting that trump _remembered_ something from a prep session that probably took place ( **ThelmaLou** glances at her watch) HOURS before? And then injected the comment at a time when it was relevant? I don’t think so. He has the attention span of a goldfish. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-potus-debate-1-29-september-follow-along-and-discussion-thread/921854.md?page=18) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-potus-debate-1-29-september-follow-along-and-discussion-thread/921854.md?page=20)