Is there anyone who will be watching this “debate”? And if so, will their vote be informed by this theater? Should it be?

Well, I’m going to watch it. The only problem I have is I can not stand the sound of trump’s voice, and looking at him just gives me the creeps. I’m in a quandry.

@Dutchess_III: “Well, I’m going to watch it.”

Why? Are you hoping to figure out who to vote for, and feel that you have been unable to gather information about the candidates, parties, and policy?

If Trump demands a urine test from Biden again, tell him and the public that you won’t satisfy Trump’s peculiar obsessions with people urinating.

“Be the adult in the room.” I think it is excellent advice.

To see how Biden handles himself, @hmmmmmm. But no. It won’t change my vote. I’d vote for a turnip over trump.

@Dutchess_III: “To see how Biden handles himself, @hmmmmmm. But no. It won’t change my vote.”

So, it’s entertainment in some way? If so, what does it matter what he says or how he “handles himself”?

I never watch debates. I’m not going to judge a candidate based on a reality show. We have plenty of material with which to evaluate them.

Oh, wait, I did not answer the actual question. Bad form. Sorry.

The advice sounds good. One particular important point I notice is, “Finally, trying to fact-check President Trump is a losing game.”

Absolutely true. Here’s a snippet of text I have saved that boils it down. It’s from the time that Elizabeth Warren posted DNA ancestry results in response to the “Pocahontas” sneering from conservatives.

The test showed she did have some native ancestry. And it just made Trump and the rest sneer even more.

“The Elizabeth Warren DNA gambit encapsulates in microcosm what the Dems have been prone to for so long: A credulous insistence that fact-checking can dispel talking points made in cynicism and bad faith.”
- Ishaan Tharoor (@ishaantharoor) October 15, 2018

Joe Biden is a neoliberal corporate democrat and has a terrible voting record. So I think he’s going to stumble on a lot of issues when it comes to healthcare and corruption.

So he needs to come back again and again and say that Trump has blood on his hands because of how callous and selfish he is for not taking the pandemic seriously. He needs to hammer this home a lot in the last ten minutes of the debate.

“Being the adult in the room” is terrible advice. He needs to attack Trump passionately, and with substance. If Trump makes a jab at Biden, letting that go and avoiding it will make Biden look incredibly weak. He doesn’t need to go to Trump’s level, but I think he should stand up for himself.

@rockfan – But people know Biden, right? They know he crafted the crime bill that Harris enforced (This is who they are running now. Amazing). They know he fought to make it difficult for students loaded with debt to file for bankruptcy. They know his history of segregation, his history of lying, and his history of having to drop out of a previous presidential run due to plagiarism. They know he was a strong advocate of invading Iraq and the so-called “free trade” bills. They know Biden was essentially picked to run as a “stop Sanders” candidate because of his opposition to healthcare. They understand he’s a corporate Democrat with a history of reproductive freedom issues, his support for fracking, and support for the death penalty. They know about his support for the Patriot Act and his continued support of US imperialism.

They also know Trump.

Is there a single person that is going to be persuaded by this “debate”? Are they just watching for entertainment? Are they watching to see who completely forgets where he is first?

Unless the Dems have a surprise up their sleeve, in which they’re about to announce a massive move to the left, this is all pure theater. Is Trump’s idiocy and white nationalism going to win over someone who isn’t already there? Is Biden’s right-wing, corporate Dem “no sympathy for young people” sales pitch or his sundowing going to win over someone who is planning to vote for Trump? No, and no. Theater.

They know he crafted the crime bill that Harris enforced

Harris enforced California state laws. She was a deputy district attorney and district attorney and California Attorney General.

Federal laws are enforced by US Attorneys’ offices. (There are four in California).

^ Fair enough. My bad. She does have a bad record as a DA. I really should have said that the systemic racism that the country is rebelling against right now is the direct result of people like Biden crafting immoral crime bills, and cops/the legal system doing the actual work. The Dems are running someone who wrote one of the most destructive bills to black people, and they are running a cop. In 2020. It’s almost difficult to fathom that this is the case, but it is. But I’m told the enthusiasm gap is “shrinking”.

I would love to see Biden attack Trump rather than “take the high road” (which is often hypocritical advice), but I doubt that will happen. I’m probably not going to watch the debates. I’ll just wait for the insightful evaluations afterward where all the left-wing sources say Biden won and all the right-wing sources say Trump won. :)

No contest. I think many of you have been duped and will be surprised – perhaps feel betrayed.

Biden will likely attack Trump while answering (or not answering) each question.

I’m looking forward to a real slug-fest.

As someone mentioned above, Trump is a pretty ugly looking guy. It’s also hard to look at Biden. How does Biden get his teeth so white? It’s like neon bright ultra white. That could help Biden if Trump happens to look at those blinding teeth. Very distracting. He must do it on purpose. HA!

Well, the entire thing was a disappointment.

He did for the most part. He got flustered a few times because Trump kept excessively interrupting like a toddler that was having a fit. I like that he kept talking to the people in the audience, Us.
The debate was horrible though and gave me a headache. It’s embarrassing to see the President of the United States behave in a childish manner during what is supposed to be a serious event for our Nation. He was completely out of control.

But the end of it was the most disturbing part. He pretty much has said he is not going to accept the election results if it’s not what he wants it to be. So in other words he is not going to accept it if he doesn’t win. He won’t commit to do what is right. Then there was the other moment when he was asked if he would denounce white supremacist or Proud boys and tell them to not create any upset during the elections and he said Proud Boys, stand back and stand by! Stand by? For what? That sounds like an order for war if he doesn’t win.

And he kept parading out debunked conspiracy theories about ballots being found in the trash and crap.
He really was an embarrassment. But we knew that going in.

They should modify the debate rules to give a person an additional two minutes if he is interrupted.

I really don’t think that would have even made a difference. Not with trump. He’s too much into what he wants at the moment.

@Dutchess_lll They should do like they do in beauty contests. Put him in a soundproof clear case and shut off his microphone when it’s not his turn but put a speaker in there so he can hear what is being said. The moderator can shut off his microphone when his time is up. And if the moderator has to tell him that he didn’t answer the question and has to repeat it, its deducted from his time. In any regular debate this would be the case. You don’t get extra time for ignoring and forgetting. Kind of like zoom but they can see each other on stage and both are in a sound proof clear glass room.
And if that doesn’t work for trump than he can stand barefoot on water with electricity being fed to the water whenever he interrupts. He will quickly learn to stick to his 2 minutes.

Trump was obviously terrible, but I thought it was hilarious (and also really depressing) when Trump lied about Biden supporting universal healthcare, which led Biden to basically try to convince Trump that he wasn’t progressive.

Great ideas @Pandora! I kept yelling “Turn off his mic!” I can’t believe they don’t have an option for that.
Every other word out of trump’s mouth was a lie.

I just signed a petition requesting that the debate commission, implement and use a mic mute option, for the next and all future debates.

@Brian1946 I feel Trump would just walk over to Bidens mic if he isn’t in a locked room.

@Brian1946 It won’t work unless they’re in a separate booth. They don’t KNOW their mic has been shut off. Even in a booth they don’t know their mic has been shut off, but at least we, the people, don’t have to listen to him rant and drool.

@Dutchess_III

“I kept yelling ‘Turn off his mic!’ I can’t believe they don’t have an option for that.”
“It won’t work unless they’re in a separate booth.”

Apparently you’re debating yourself.

There was no request in the petition for separate booths equipped with exclusively external locking. If there was, I would have signed it.

Although mic muting might not be a FOOLproof option, it would still be better than what happened.

What petition?

This one.

If you want to know more about it, I’ll see if it’s in my email’s Sent folder.

That link just brought me back here.