In wrestling, there are two kinds of fans; the “marks” who only pay attention to what’s happening in the ring and on TV, and the “smarts” who pay attention to what’s going on behind the scenes.
We’re the smarts. We should be doing better than marking out over a poor performance as if Hulk Hogan was getting a beatdown and there’s no way he can stop Sgt. Slaughter from winning the world title.
I find that politics makes a lot more sense when you compare it to wrestling, because so much of it is kayfabe intended for public amusement.
The only thing I’ll say is that anyone can have a lousy debate performance. I remember Barack Obama having an absolute shitter of one in his first debate against Mitt Romney. The Dems lost their minds. Obama came back in the second debate and mopped the floor with Romney.
If Trump is smart, he won’t go for a second debate. This was painful to watch, for sure.
If I’m remembering correctly, there was a coin toss, and Biden won. That gave him the first choice of whether he wanted to choose which podium to use OR whether he wanted to go last in closing statements. He chose to pick his podium. And then he chose a podium that made him appear to stare off the the left all evening due to the camera placement instead of looking into the camera. Someone definitely made a moronic choice there.
They just mentioned President Obama’s first debate on CNN as well. That’s giving me a shred of optimism and hope (not that TFG would ever consider a 2nd debate, I wouldn’t imagine).
The good news for Biden is that this debate was so early that it is a whopping 4.5 months before Election Day. No other debate loser has ever enjoyed so much recovery time to get back ahead. It’s not like he stumbled in the final debate and now has just one month to close the gap.
I was at work when the debate started and on my way home to watch what ended up being the last 45 minutes. I thought about exactly the first Obama/Romney debate in the car. Then I got home and saw the last part. I admit Joe got better and DJT became much more cuckoo banana pants.
BUT, this is only going to feed the “Biden is old and feeble” bullshit being pushed by the NYT and others.
And it was beyond painful for me, it was heartbreaking. I’ve been a Biden for President person every time he has run in the primaries. He is an amazing man and leader.
Biden often did not seem to be looking into the camera. Whose fault is that? Was the problem the placement or the President?
Biden’s biggest problem was his appearance when Trump was talking. It is not a fatal flaw. He did not look vibrant. He did not look vitalised. But he can’t afford to look like this again, if the other debates actually occur. And he should have spoken last.
My guess is that Biden was looking at the moderator who asked the question. He’s answering the question posed by an individual, and is addressing that individual. We’ve seen him do the same in press conferences—he addresses the reporter who asked him a question.
Trump, having hosted a reality show, is used to television, and knows how to play to a camera. Sometimes, he was addressing the moderator, but often, he was addressing the cameras while answering the moderators’ questions.
Why wouldn’t he? He’s riding high, getting positive attention… Why wouldn’t he expect to do the same over and over? Why wouldn’t he thirst for the chance? The debate is already on the calendar; wouldn’t he think it’d be a sign of weakness to withdraw now? Especially after a win?