By: Michael DeFusco | Staff-writer
After a long day, my legs were wobbling as I stumbled up two steep flights of stairs before flopping lazily onto my couch. I surfed through the channels before landing on ABC. After a few short minutes I saw an ad for what looked and sounded like a new reality tv show, only to realize that it was a commercial for the presidential debate.
The long-anticipated debate turned out to be the train wreck people were expecting. Following months of sensationalized coverage and senseless sound bites from both candidates, voters have become numb to their rhetoric. It is empirically clear that neither is or ever was a succinct speaker, and both sides, it appears, have come to accept that disconcerting trait of their respective candidates.
Although there were some undecided voters before this debate, few words will change all that has occurred over the previous months regarding COVID-19, race and the tragic death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. President Trump stood in his position on nominating Amy Coney Barrett for Supreme Court Justice, making it abundantly clear he would go ahead with the nomination. Meanwhile, Joe Biden was unclear whether he would support packing the Supreme court. When asked by moderator, Chris Wallace, if he (Biden) would pack the court in response to a Trump judicial nomination, Biden was vague and responded by asking people to go out and vote.
The debate revealed little about either candidate. President Trump continued to reiterate his usual talking points, labeling Joe Biden “a socialist” when it comes to health care and the economy, as well as calling for law and order when asked about race, while saying nothing productive about race. Trump also continued his ceaseless name calling and interruptions. Even with Chris Wallace, doing his best to keep the peace, President Trump continuously interrupted Biden’s time, in what were supposed to be “uninterrupted minutes.”
If there were a winner of the debate it would have to be Joe Biden. His job was simple, and he did it well. He came out, spoke as clearly and coherently as was required, showed strength when needed and directed his message toward the American people. After months of recurring attacks that he (Biden) is a tool of the, “radical left” he answered strongly debate night by asserting, “I am the Democratic party right now.” When interrupted and spoken over by the President he remained calm and rarely responded back, only telling Trump to, “shut up” a couple times. Biden also continued to make his appeal to independents by condemning violence and spoke on law and justice for all Americans.
Although there was some rudimentary level of substantive policy discussion at the beginning of the debate it quickly devolved into a series of questions answered with ambiguous responses and glaring hyperbolics. Regardless, I believe the words said in the first debate were inconsequential.
This election goes beyond words: both candidates’ actions over the last few months and into the future far outweigh the exaggerated political rhetoric. Overall, the first Presidential Debate can be summed up best by debate moderator from “Billy Madison.”
Disclaimer: Political Op-Eds are independently written and do not reflect the views of the Mosaic Student Newspaper.
Cover Image: “Biden Emerges from First Presidential Debate a Clear Winner” by Eric Haynes is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0.
