Wow what a difference. Before we dive in I just want to thank everyone who has been reading these articles. I’ve really enjoyed writing them for you and I hope you’ve found them helpful. Tonight’s debate had a LOT of substance to cover so let’s get into it.
President Donald Trump
This was hands down the best debate performance of the President’s political career. He came into this debate 10 points down in most polls. He needed to perform and he exceeded all expectations (though it’s worth pointing out that his campaign did everything they could to lower them). Trump kept his composure, spoke clearly (though not very concisely), and landed every punch he had planned plus a few more. That said the president missed some big moments, notably by responding to Biden’s attack about the over 500 migrant children whose parents can’t be found by talking about how well they were being treated. The president also spouted a larger than usual amount of false statements and exaggerations. There were so many I don’t have time to litigate them all so here’s a tracker from NYT. There is no question the President did his best tonight, the question is was his best good enough? More on that later.
Former Vice President Joe Biden
Vice President Biden had everything to lose and not much to gain from his performance in this debate. He had to hold his ground and present a strong final case for his candidacy to undecided voters. He kept his cool and scored some big hits talking directly to voters. Biden appeared more empathetic and more engaged with the day to day experiences of Americans and while some people will say fact checks are skewed because they check Trump far more than Biden, the fact of the matter is he makes far less false or misleading statements than Trump does. However he missed quite a few points where he needed to hit back and he made less efficient use of his time than Trump. He appeared to stumble at times and in my opinion blew a huge answer on oil. I heard Van Jones compliment Biden on the courage it took to give that answer on oil but I wonder if it’s the same kind of courage people flying kites in thunderstorms have. Overall VP Biden gave an as expected performance tonight and I think he needed to do a bit better than that.
Who Won & Will It Matter?
Most of your more balanced pundits are saying that this was a draw. I would disagree and say President Trump took this by a nose. People are going to come away from this debate pleasantly surprised by Trump and I think that may have a big impact, moreover his campaign and supporters can point to this performance with pride which is no small thing. Historically the final debate has about a 50/50 record of impacting the last round of polls. I think this one will see no movement for Biden but may bump the President a bit.
Thanks again for reading, if you want to hear more election coverage let me know everywhere on social at @iammikegio.