As I write shortly after the first presidential debate this year, it is too soon to know the audience ratings, but it can be safely said that from a media public relations viewpoint CNN is the biggest winner of the night. This will be the largest-ever audience in its storied four-decade history. To give this some perspective it should be noted that more than 73 million people watched the first debate of the 2020 cycle when factoring in all the news outlets on which it aired. Unlike when the League of Women Voters hosts a debate with red, white, and blue bunting being the backdrop, it was not lost on any viewer Thursday, regardless of the many networks where one could watch the live coverage, which news operation oversaw the questioning of President Joe Biden and Donald Trump. In this political environment, it can be clearly stated Jake Tapper and Dana Bash demonstrated how journalism can rise above the rancor to aim at the core issues, allowing for a candidate to address a nation. The CNN reporters proved what professional journalism looks like in the most stressful of situations.
Over the past weeks, there was hardly any way to escape the breathless anticipatory coverage of the debate. It seemed aimed to make a serious presidential debate appear to be a brawl or a clash of two sporting teams set for a pivotal rematch. How often did we hear “face off” when this story was reported? We know that had something easily rhymed with Atlanta we would have had the 21st-century version of Thrilla in Manila making headlines. The way this debate was promoted across much of the media made it clear the central point was seemingly not important. You know, the one about how one of the candidates will be sitting in the White House on January 21st, and what are the proposed game plans for a bevy of issues facing the country and world? Where the candidates prepared for the debate or smack talk and outrageous suggestions from Trump of non-existent drug use, which incredibly and irresponsibly from a journalistic perspective made for news reports, pushed aside policy reporting that would have aided in shaping voters’ minds about the needs of the nation. The promotion of the night like a sports grudge match was undignified.
During a question about our economy at the start of the debate, I thought of the patrician-sounding and somewhat dour personality of Steve Forbes, a former Republican presidential aspirant in the 1996 and 2000 primaries, who favored a flat tax and believed it possible to fill out tax returns in a far quicker and easier fashion. He was not a barn burner as a candidate nor inspiring when behind a podium. But he was an intelligent and serious-minded person, the type that when the average citizen is asked in an idealistic sense what type of person they wish to seek high office could give his name as an answer.
But what the Republican Party has unloaded on the nation this election cycle is Donald Trump. A news report on CBS this week noted a Republican consultant pushed the idea that once on stage Trump “needed to be nice”. That is now the low bar that the GOP candidate must cross on national television to achieve points in a debate. (How then can Republicans get exercised over the chaos in public school classrooms and troubling behavior from students when their presidential candidate needs to be told not to act out like a demented patient at a mental ward?)
The volume of lies made by Trump during the debate would fit into numerous bushel baskets. As were the insinuations he made that lacked evidence. Trump stated, “We’re no longer respected as a country. They don’t respect our leadership. They don’t respect the United States anymore.” The data shows otherwise. The fact is Biden enjoys more approval overseas than does Trump.
The latest international poll conducted by the Pew Research Center, released earlier this month, found that “Biden is viewed more positively than his rival.” In a poll of citizens in 34 countries, 43 percent said they have confidence in Mr. Biden “to do the right thing regarding world affairs,” while just 28 percent said the same thing about Mr. Trump. In 24 of those countries, Pew found, Biden rated at least five points higher than did Trump. Trump fared better in only two: Tunisia and Hungary.
Every time Trump had the time to talk, he told fabulous lies. Regarding abortion, he claimed, “Every legal scholar wanted it that way.” That flies in the face that three Supreme Court justices dissented in the landmark ruling in 2022, and abortion rights remain broadly popular nationwide. “A majority of Americans disapprove of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe, according to the Pew Research Center. Extensive polling also shows that public opinion increasingly supports legal abortion since the ruling.
While Biden has taken flack for having lived for many decades, I did wonder as the debate unfolded how many of the naysayers knew that his administration is responsible for more bipartisan legislation passing than any president since Lyndon Baines Johnson. That is quite an accomplishment for a man defined by conservatives as suffering from ‘sundowning’.
I wrote last week that I was raised with the viewpoint being stressed by Dad, a WWII veteran, that when voting in presidential elections the most important factor to consider was how a candidate viewed or dealt with international affairs. During the debate, I was very heartened to hear Biden strongly defend how he restored strong ties with isolated long-standing allies and united them to fight Russian aggression in Ukraine. We understand polling shows that wars and the instability that spreads outward from those conflicts are part of the negative perception of Biden. While it is mighty hard to frame and persuade about complicated and weighty foreign policy issues and truncate them into a couple-minute response, I am pleased with how Biden used his time with this aspect of the debate. Many other times, however, I was frustrated with how Biden performed.
The optics of the debate did not work in Biden’s favor. He came into the night with a hoarse voice and when not talking seemed not to be aware that the camera was still on him. But when it was his time to address the next question there were so many lies that had been told by Trump, Biden seemed not sure where to start. From that perspective, he seemed always behind the eight ball in trying to get out just a few facts to undo the lies that had been made by Trump.
Biden did not look strong or in command of the debate at any time. It was not a good night for this White House and Democrats will have great concerns about the weeks to come as this election heats up. But for voters who value democracy and know what history teaches us about autocracy and fascism, this election remains a vital one for the future of our country. The fact remains that Trump is a dangerous man as we head to November.
CAFFEINATED POLITICS 