The first debate

Don't deceive yourself, Junior . . . There are plenty of voters out there who have seen nothing but party-aligned rubbish for the past 3 years, and hadn't seen a real objective side-by-side comparison of Trump and Biden since the 2020 campaign. This was likely only their second glimpse of the two going head to head, and only their first since Biden has slid so much further down the mountain of "competence".

While many who watched the other night probably did not expect to be swayed by the debate, they likely did have preconceptions that their favored candidate was going to mop the floor with the other.

I think we learned two things about the candidates the other night . . . Biden can tie his tongue better than he can tie his shoes, and Trump has learned not to bring a gun to a fistfight.

For those whose primary objection to Trump is that he is rough around the edges, he does seem to be working on that . . . something that I, for one, did not expect to see.

As concerns qualifications to do the job . . . this is not even a close contest.

 

I think that may play into Trumps ambivalence toward NATO who has shown an aggressive posture towards Russia.

 

Probably not, but at best for Trump this suppresses Biden voters, I doubt many would switch to Trump based on that event. Just as I wouldn't expect many if any Trump voters to switch to Biden if it had gone the other way.

Me neither, I was surprised, but I think it's just that he's also getting old and tired. Not to the degree Biden is, but he's certainly not the man he was in 2016 or 2020.

I disagree, I think they're nearly equally unqualified...

 

Oh, I don’t know about that . . . I’m sure I saw several instances where he locked and loaded, then deliberated, and ultimately decided not to pull the trigger. I almost convinced myself it was merciful, but I’m sure it was only about looking less unpresidential.

You haven’t yet lived enough to know better.

 

Past debates, there were many times I was telling Trump through the TV “Just shut up already”. I think Trump finally understands the concept, and I’m sure he was given advice to just let Joe talk his own way into trouble.

 

There’s another thing I feel does not get enough air time. Without a teleprompter, Biden is hopelessly lost. Biden goes to NC after the debate and yells and stutters his way through some pages on the teleprompter and the left is giddy “See, he’s fine!”. We’ve seen time and time again through this administration, when Biden does not have this security blanket, he gets into trouble. Hell, he has shown he can’t even navigate a teleprompter speech correctly; “Four more years………..pause.”

I would like to have a leader who does not need a teleprompter or cue cards to express their position.

How many times have we seen Trump address an audience without a teleprompter compared to Biden? The comparison is glaring and obvious to anyone paying attention.

 

Depends what you want in a leader. Trump has undeniable charisma with a crowd, he can BS his way through most anything. As you'd expect, he's a New York showbiz guy by trade. If you think about what he's saying during the debate though, there was no substance. He couldn't answer a question without working it back to "immigrants will kill your baby"

A talent with words for sure, but I'm not sure that translates to being the best leader. Biden tried several times bringing up facts and numbers, but he got drowned out because it made him look like an uncharismatic nerd. I at least appreciate his attempt to root things in data and reality though

 

Let us start with what I have already said;

I would like to have a leader who does not need a teleprompter or cue cards to express their position.

In Joe’s presidency, how many times have we seen him without a teleprompter or cue cards and what has been the result?

 

You're allowed to desire that, I'm just not convinced that on-screen charisma/confidence directly translates to ability to govern.

Especially given I don't think Trump did particularly well at giving thoughtful answers to the questions, he was just lucky Biden looked worse.

 

Yeah, while Biden needs the media to do that.

Even if the data Biden used was no more real / complete than Trump's.

 

It was though. One of the most obvious and jarring examples I remember was when they were talking about Roe v Wade.

Biden said something to the effect of "a portion of legal scholars on the subject believed in upholding Roe v Wade" and Trump without missing a beat goes "all legal scholars said we should get rid of it"

That trend happened repeatedly throughout the event. Biden says something qualified and based in reality, Trump goes "nah, everyone on earth says no"

 

Oh yeah, right, that was the response where Joe talked about a woman being raped by her sister.

 

As superficial as it may sound….. Charisma is an important component of being an effective leader.

 

Absolutely.

I heard an analogy the other day, I forget which media yak said it, but it went something like this.....

Imagine you were in an airport terminal and two pilots were debating before taking off on their respective flights - one Joe and one Donald. Based on this first debate, which plane do you want to board?

 

I would be afraid to let Joe pour my coffee at Waffle House!!

 

Can you name one job that Joe would be hired for?

 

Joe is, and has been, an incompetent. He is a threat to national security, especially after this dismissal debate. The adversaries to this nation have been flexing their muscles and if he is allowed to continue to be in office it will only encourage them.

 

Don’t talk about exaggerations, Joe said NO soldiers died on his watch. He was looking at his watch while the coffins of thirteen soldiers were returned home.

 

For sure, I wish Biden had it. Obama had it in spades. But I don't think Trump has much else outside of charisma

 

Yeah, they both lied and exaggerated. I think if you listen critically though, you'll find that's virtually all Trump did