This!
This my friend is a noble idea I aspire to live up to.
I cannot help having some occasional knee jerk reactions to certain events, but I hope that as we go forward I am more able to express myself in a civil and polite manner even while strongly disagreeing with the people involved. It is often a challenge, but I am trying to be that change I want to see. I am trying diligently to keep the ideals alive that inspired my change from hard core (but not extreme) Republican to left leaning moderate.
How did he respond? Hurt, calm, angry, amused, indignant…?
Not sure if this is the official ‘let’s keep a running commentary on the final Presidential debate’ thread but I’ll post here a few hours before it happens.
The conventional wisdom is that the most important debate already happened and resulted with Biden emerging on top. Biden’s debate strategy heading into tonight should be to merely avoid making any fumbles or throwing any interceptions. Run out the clock. Take a knee (am I missing any other football analogies?). To this end, his approach should be to (attempt to) simply answer questions and while doing so come across as a calm reasonable person that has empathy. This alone should be worth a draw and a draw is as good as a win at this point.
How much energy and effort do you think he should expend in attacking Trump? How many sound bite barbs should he have in his pocket? How should he respond to the predictable Trump attacks (eg. Hunter)?
He was calm and composed.
He did not even finish a sentence before I regretted my comment. He said: "Now Temporary, I am not sure that is fair, for many people … And I was realizing I just insulted someone I admire.
The truth is we were discussing the challenges of a member who was and is a devout pain in the ass. The good reverend and I are friends and have a mutual respect others don’t understand which requires a good deal of backstory – please feel free to skip the following.
When my single sister got knocked up I was a sincere believer who lived in another state and held minor church offices and tried to live up to living a good life. My then wife and I bribed her into having her son baptized by paying for a fancy brunch reception and with many gifts. Over the next six years she converted to Christianity, and I got divorced and renounced my faith. Shortly after arriving back in my home state, she ended her life and for my mother (who had raised the kid for the most part anyway) to become his guardian, the Commissioner declared I had to live on the property. Grammy had some health problems and that turned out to be a good idea even though I resisted it at first.
Even though I had renounced faith and self described as an atheist, I HAD committed to being sure he was raised into the faith. So I contacted this pastor I had never met and laid out the situation. He agreed to instruct the child in the ways of the church, and welcome my mother and the kid into the fold. I had to admire him for that and he often expressed his appreciation for me bringing them every week and sitting through the services and classes.
Because I was something of an outsider, and we are the same age (I also attended a Bible College in my youth and was well versed in doctrine – plus I did the kids catechism with him so I was very current) we used our friendship to talk about matters his flock could not provide for him. To be clear, he always gave more than he took.
So we were having lunch and talking about things when I made the comment. Mostly to criticize the church member who was being a thorn is his side (that man still wears his MAGA cap and tee shirts as much as possible while complaining about every detail of church life from the kind of sprinklers used on the lawn to the blessing said at the end of services. And boy does that guy have views on how the money is counted and banked and spent and accounted for. The pastor was just being such a regular guy that I forgot he saw things much more like his nemesis than like me.
I did tell him he would regret his vote before the end of Trump’s first term – and he does. But Mr. MAGA and the bulk of the congregation are still as blind as they were four years ago. Reverend M. is a good man and perhaps a better friend than I deserve. His words and his actions have always matched up so … nothing but respect from me.
I agree with you with some reservations. Allow me to recommend Nurture Shock and Top Dog both by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman. They argue quite convincingly that running out the clock is always a bad strategy. (Several books on decision making and brain development make the same claim.) Playing to hold a lead often means changing your game plan and abandoning all the elements that got you there in the first place. Many, many examples are given of championship games crumbling once the team gets too conservative. Long ago a very competitive college basketball coach told me “Two minutes is an eternity and a half in this game”. To his point, twelve days is too early to start running out the clock.
The thing is, the tactics you recommend are what Biden is running on and his strongest case for himself. He needs to be tough enough to not take a bite at the bate (to stay composed and not snap on Trump – if he loses his cool he will lose something with the audience), but also be scrappy enough to not get slapped around. Being presidential and uniting is the answer. I hope he gives a version of the speech several of us recommended:
“I want to apologize for my part in the debacle the first debate devolved into. I hope we can have spirited but civil debate tonight. I have many detailed plans I want to share with the American people, I hope I get a chance to share them with you and explain why they are superior. I believe America deserves better than a mud slinging contest – this is not a reality show it is about administrating the United States of America.”
That way when Trump is an ass, he will have to own it. Biden might also have a few of these loaded: “Sir, you are interrupting again, if you listen quietly you may learn how to make a plan of your own.” Or something like: “You have been promising a glorious plan in just two weeks for four years now and none of them has materialized. Is that why you constantly resort to personal attacks?” He needs to look right at Trump and address him directly while he says these- ignore the moderator and the audience. That will show he can stand up to a bully and do him well. After two or three of those, when Trump interrupts and/or attacks he can just look into the camera and tell the people “If he had any plans he would tell you about them. He is attacking me (or my child) to distract you from his failure.”
Demonstrates he is tough enough to stand up to Putin or others, composed enough to be a uniting president who wants to go forward and build – not divide to hold onto power. He doesn’t want to sink to Trump’s level and attack him (even to attack him back), but he does want to correct Trump when Trump breaks the rules and becomes a douche. Not chiding the pres., but pointing it out and letting the people judge for themselves.
He can’t let the pitches go by, he has to take swings. But he also has to not lose his temper – has to stay composed. I guess I moved us from football to baseball, sorry about that.
I’m not watching the debate, but will see what Fox and MSNBC have to say. It will be very different things. Surreal.
Fox actually has a van outside Bidens home waiting to see if he comes out to see his shadow.
I’ll read the CNN summary tomorrow. I would be wincing and dreading a Biden election-losing gaffe (even if unlikely) far too much to watch it in real time.
Thank you for this.
I am almost superstitious enough to believe Biden will get strength and clarity from my viewership and distant support. Almost.
I’m looking forward to the return of the robotic fly.
If there’s a fly tonight Trump will retweet this as a liberal conspiracy. One of the funniest trollings I’ve seen in a while.