Debating the debate

Ms. Lowenthal, are you going to ghost the on spot comments by Terrence, Dirk, Steve, Law and Order, and MichKosk or are you the typical democrat who visits the Democrat Fantasy Land and then ghosts the individuals who provide facts that counter your wishful thinking? And please tell me why a Jewish woman would support an anti-semite President Biden and not President Trump who recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel?

Agreed Dr. Lowenthal. There is no doubt Biden did a cringe worthy job at the the debate and the righties will have a field day pointing out all the errors. The irony is they will point out the lies of Biden while not mentioning the 30+ lies by Trump.

Based on substance, which should be the main focus of voting, Trump failed and was equally cringe worthy. Based on his hysteria, all ills are coming from the border and America is is the toilet. Listening to him berate our country based on his lies was maddening.

If he were to try for employment in any decent job in America, he would be declined outright based on his criminal record. Why then, should he be considered for the most important job in the land? I will take an old man over a conman any day.

I've wondered... who are the 20% of people polled that thought Biden won the debate? Turns out they're PhD college professors. Unbelievable.

TDS is a hell of a drug. This piece wins for the most detached from reality commentary on the debate. Good thing you retired as a speech and debate professor because if Joe Biden's performance was a good example for your students, they should ask for their tuition back.

I'm no great fan of Trump and he's certainly not a wordsmith or great orator, but he was nowhere near as bad as Biden, who could barely form a coherent sentence in that debate.

Honestly though the entire thing was dumbed down from what presidential debates used to be. I would have liked to have heard more policy and substance from both candidates. But this is what we are stuck with in this election.

They must have really lowered the bar when USF hired her.

Good morning, Marla

You wrote, “… a good speech must be also judged by its content.” I would say the same applies to op-ed articles. IMO the content in your commentary is a political statement against the Republican challenger masquerading as an appraisal of the candidates’ debate performance last month.

You suggest we look beyond the president’s lackluster, poor performance, and instead look at what you believe are his “solid” arguments. Joe said there are a “thousand trillionaires” in our country, then corrected himself by saying “billionaires.” That’s OK. I’m hoping everyone can excuse such a misstatement… we all make such errors in our speech. But setting aside Joe’s pauses and blank stares… what of the content he presented at the debate?

He claimed his administration “beat Medicare.” I’m not sure what he meant by that claim. He also said his opponent wanted to eliminate Social Security. That is not true. Joe claimed no US troops have died during his term in office and that the Border Patrol has endorsed him. Both false claims. With respect to the border, Joe stated that there have been 40% fewer persons coming across the border illegally. While there was a reduced number of persons recently coming across the border after Joe made a policy change in an attempt to staunch the flood of persons pouring across the border during his presidency, this “solid” argument is at best only misleading. The Department of Homeland Security reports fewer border encounters occurred during Trump’s four-year presidency than just one year (2023) under Biden.

Joe made a horrific unforced error during the debate on the topic of abortion. While Joe acknowledged the death of a woman killed by an immigrant, he then minimized that tragedy by saying women are raped by in-laws, spouses and “brothers and sisters.” That is not a solid argument.

Joe also said that unemployment was at 15% when he entered the presidency. Again, not true. Let’s not forget he claimed earlier this year (twice) that he inherited 9% inflation from the Trump presidency. More false content. We can certainly break down the many exaggerations and false content presented by Trump during the debate, but that’s not the issue or takeaway for most Americans from last month’s debate. It is about Biden’s “performance and age.” It’s not about solid arguments and content lost in Joe’s delivery… they’re just not there.

Ms. Lowenthal, I’m not sure which debate you watched but it wasn’t the same as the one 50+ million people watched. Sure, there were speeches and rhetoric but Biden’s arguments were solid? Unless by solid, you mean Biden showed up and said something, anything. As for making sense, I think the people and many Democrats have now spoken. For instance, in addition to PeninsulaLawAndOrder’s recap, I’ll add the following:

Biden says he beat Medicare. An outright lie.

Biden saying the unemployment rate was 15 percent when he took office. An outright lie. It was closer to 6% (mostly due to COVID shutdowns)

Biden repeating the debunked Charlottesville hoax. An outright lie, debunked even by left-wing Snopes.

Biden repeating the debunked Atlantic story on military veterans. An outright lie by the Atlantic corroborated by nobody.

Have you stopped to think that perhaps the best defense for Biden’s incompetence as a leader and at the debate is Biden’s age? I’m sure you can find a CNN transcript and understand why Biden’s age is the focus instead of what Biden said because if Dem’s attempt to focus on what Biden said, that would be a greater liability. If you stop and think about what’s best for America, you’ll vote for Trump to Take America Back. If you can’t find it in your mind and heart to do this, write in a candidate.

Biden said we had an in law and sibling rape problem. We do? No US troops were killed during his tenure. False. At least he didn’t discuss his uncle eaten by humans. Or being arrested for protesting segregation.