With the final debate now in the history books, Americans look toward Election Day with earnest ready to be done with a long-slogging presidential campaign amid a global pandemic. In case you missed it, you can watch the debate in its entirety available here.
The good news this morning is that few people are talking about the moderator. Kristen Welker, of NBC News, did a fine job and was complimented at times by both candidates during the debate for attempting to be as fair and even-handed as possible. She deserves credit for stepping in and closing out the last debate acting as the “invisible hand” that a moderator should be.
Here’s a rundown around media circles about where things stand after Thursday night’s debate between President Trump and former Vice President Biden.
NPR offers five takeaways from the debate, which they call a “real debate” compared to the first outing which was panned as a cross-talking nightmare:
1. There was a real debate
The first debate between Trump and Biden was unwatchable. It was overwhelmed by interruptions and cross-talk, disregard for the moderator and name-calling — all largely on the part of the president.
2. The coronavirus is still the driving force in the election
The 2020 election remains focused on Trump’s handling of the coronavirus, and it was the subject of Welker’s first question. Both candidates tested negative for the coronavirus prior to entering the venue on Thursday, and those in the small audience were required to wear masks. Members of the Trump family adhered to the rules, donning masks and appearing to keep them on after conspicuously refusing to do so during the first debate.
3. Health care debate pitted “Bidencare” versus ending Obamacare
Democrats have made the GOP effort to end Obamacare a key line of attack in the campaign, both in the presidential election and in congressional races, and it’s proven effective.
4. Trump attacked Biden as a typical politician, engaged in corruption
Trump won in 2016 in part by arguing he wasn’t a politician, that he was a businessman who was going to Washington to “drain the swamp.” He has been trying in the past couple of weeks to reprise that strategy, and to paint Biden as a corrupt Washington figure who has a 47-year career in government without much to show for it. Even though reelection races for incumbents are usually referendums on their first terms, Trump has talked less about his own record and more about Biden’s.
5. The debate may not matter
More than 40 million people have already voted, and recent polls show a very small sliver of the electorate is persuadable this close to the election. Even Biden appeared bored, and near the end of the debate checked his watch.
Aside from the actual issues discussed, point number five in the above list may be crucial to determining whether this debate mattered much for either candidate. With a record number of early voting happening around the country, how many undecided voters are really left out there to right over? Obviously, there are some, as there is every election cycle, but there are a lot of Americans who already made up their mins weeks ago to sign on for another four years of President Trump, or deciding it’s time to hand things over to Joe Biden.
Continuing our media tour, Fox News offers a look at the top five moments of the debate:
1. The Hunter story
Allegations have surfaced in recent days that Biden was involved with his son Hunter’s foreign business dealings, though the Democrat and his campaign has denied this. Ahead of the debate, a business partner of Hunter Biden’s gave an on-camera statement claiming Joe Biden was aware of the dealihis son’s work. Further reporting from the Wall Street Journal, however, has cast doubt on any role of Joe Biden in Hunter Biden’s ventures, specifically in China.
2. Immigration
Another contentious moment in the debate came as the candidates sparred over immigration policy.
3. Minimum wage
After Welker asked Biden about whether increasing the minimum wage to $15 per hour might hurt small businesses, Biden appeared not to understand the question and advocated for small-business bailouts.
4. Race relations
Biden was at his most effective Thursday when delivering one-liners either attacking Trump or highlighting what kind of president he would be. Among them were comments that he would “shut down the virus, not the country,” and that Trump “should have been instead of in a sandtrap at his golf course, he should have been negotiating with Nancy Pelosi,” on a coronavirus deal.
5. Coronavirus
“Anybody responsible for that many deaths should not remain president of the United States of America,” Biden said of Trump’s handling of the pandemic that’s killed over 200,000 Americans.
“We can’t lock ourselves in a basement like he does. … He has this thing about living in a basement,” Trump said, echoing his previous exhortations to Americans to not be afraid of the virus.
With the Coronavirus dominating the news since mid-March, it was actually refreshing to hear candidates debating other topics like immigration, the economy, and foreign policy. It seems that politics is starting to get back to the issues that used to dominate the discussion before the virus took over.
The Hunter Biden laptop issue was raised by Trump-and moderator Kristen Welker-but Joe Biden was prepared to swat it away. There wasn’t any expectation that Biden would try to explain anything, he was clearly ready to simply discard the questions and move one. The President lobbed many attacks in this vein that may have raised eyebrows or at least piqued interest among voters who were unaware of the story.
The President also referenced Tony Bobulinski, the business partner of Hunter Biden, who gave a press conference before the debate claiming to have evidence that Joe Biden lied previously when he said he never discussed any foreign business dealing with his son. That matter will be pending before a Senate committee on Friday.
Immigration seemed to be the one surprise area of the night where both candidates had a record to defend and the discussion became rather heated. Trump’s attempts to pin the “children in cages” meme back on the Obama administration, where it originated, put Biden on the defense and made him skirt some around the topic to some extent.
Onward to another media voice, CNN provides a recap with some key points about how the night developed:
Trump lowers the temperature
Trump entered Thursday’s debate with near unanimous consent among his advisers: cool down. None could say with any confidence whether he would take the advice.
He did, mostly — aided, in part, by a new muting rule he lambasted ahead of the face-off.
Trump’s wishful thinking
Trump’s very first answer — which was meant to state how he would lead during the next stage of the coronavirus — relied instead on looking backward and wishful thinking about a vaccine.
And like many of his answers over the rest of the evening, Trump’s central argument seemed to be that things could be a lot worse.
Biden forecasts a ‘dark winter’
Biden offered a much bleaker view of the virus, predicting that a “dark winter” is coming as he accused Trump of denying responsibility for its spread in the United States and squandering months that he said should have been used to accelerate production of protective medical equipment and prepare schools and businesses for reopening.
“Anyone who’s responsible for that many deaths should not remain as President of the United States of America,” Biden said.
Biden hits his policy marks
The former vice president’s most effective moments Thursday night might have been his evisceration of Trump’s economic, health care and immigration policies.
Those policy-focused moments underscored a grim reality for Trump: Though Congress could stand in the way, Biden is campaigning on a series of detailed policy proposals — and frequently explains what they’d mean to average Americans. Trump, though, has repeatedly failed to detail what he’d seek to do if he wins a second term.A question on the “talk” goes unanswered
Trump and Biden were both asked a provocative and important question about race: Could they understand why Black parents give their children the “talk” about how to handle encounters with law enforcement?
The candidates’ responses were designed less to convince Black voters that either man would be better for them than to convince White voters that Trump is or is not racist. It’s one of the factors that has driven down Trump’s poll numbers among suburban women, who have been turned off by Trump’s constant stoking of divisions.
Biden says he ‘would transition from the oil industry’
The debate moment that Republicans were seizing on Thursday night was Biden’s comment that he “would transition from the oil industry, yes.”
“Oh, that’s a big statement,” Trump responded.”
“That is a big statement,” Biden said. “Because the oil industry pollutes significantly.”
The question of who “won” the debate is always subjective, and depends largely on the viewer’s partisan lens. President Trump took an entirely different tack than the first debate, and it paid off well. He was calm and patient with answers, allowing Biden to sometimes stumble into holes, such as his statement about ending the oil industry.
Biden performed as well as expected just as he did during the first debate and during the primary debates in the spring. He sometimes walks himself into corners, but has done this long enough to put together coherent answers and launch coherent attacks, which he did.
Call the night a stalemate which is what the President needed to reinvigorate his chances following the first debate.
