The first presidential debate was not a thoughtful policy discussion by any stretch of the imagination.
President Trump repeatedly talked over his opponent, Vice President Joe Biden on every topic from healthcare to climate change.
The point of my blog, "Bringing Policy Back," is to bring policy into the discussions that we have around the 2020 presidential election. This debate was a perfect example of the lack of substantive discussion surrounding the election cycle.
The big strategy I saw coming from Trump was interrupting and confusing Biden so he seemed off-kilter unfit for office. Instead, I think it came across as rude and annoying. However, the one thing that Trump was successful with was dividing the Democratic Party as a whole from Biden's policies.
Biden at one point said, "I am the Democratic Party."
To me, this meant that Trump was successful in distinguishing Biden from the progressive or left wing faction of the party. Once again, Biden shied away when Trump mentioned concepts such as the Green New Deal or Medicare for All, or as Trump called it 'Socialized medicine" because he likes to avoid the socialist label. But in doing this, Trump actually further isolates the progressives that already feel left out of some of Biden's policies. Biden should have been able to use this moment on the stage to talk about what he and the progressives have in common as an effort to unify the party. As I have mentioned in my previous posts, Biden's climate plan does not diverge all that much from the Green New Deal. He should really be talking about that to bring more progressives under his tent.
As the tweet above suggests, Biden should really embrace his party and their ideals. He should be proud of his progressive vision for America.
Another critique I have of the debate were the topics at hand. Some of the topics were blatantly chosen because they knew Trump would like them. As he went into the conversation about law and order and violence in the cities, he tried to get Trump to stop talking by saying "You'll like this one." At presidential debates are we supposed to ask questions that the candidates will like?
Wallace could not get the debate under control or bring it back to any sort of policy discussion. The best question he asked was when he pressed Trump to condemn white supremacy. This became the infamous and most concerning line of the night.
While the discussion lacked policy ideas, I think it said a lot about morals. Trump interrupted Biden while he was talking about his deceased son. Trump made fun of Biden's other son's struggles with addiction. Trump taunted Biden for wearing a mask. And the most insulting thing Biden did all night, int the midst of all these attacks was say:
I typically think policy should be the center of every political discussion, but in 2020 and especially after that debate, regardless of what you think of Biden's ideas, he came out as the moral superior. Since the chances of getting into any real discussion of ideas in further debates, I encourage viewers to look and listen for values, kindness and respect.
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