A Week Later, That Debate is Still Embarassing

The first of two presidential debates is officially in the books. So, what did we think? President Biden is three years and seven months older than Donald Trump. But watching the two on Thursday night, didn’t that gap feel more like a valley? There was certainly plenty of concern coming out of the debate about the democratic side. Is Biden still the best option? Was his ship sunk on Thursday? Should Gavin Newsome be kept on speed dial?

In Biden’s defense, he did seem to bounce back better the following day in North Carolina (in an entirely different environment), which helped settle some of the murky waters for his supporters. 

Trump, meanwhile, seemed to win the battle, despite avoiding direct answers to most of the questions. He did deliver a vicious blow after one particular ramble from Biden, which shot him up the odds board to win the election. And yet, in the end, the hottest button issue of the night seemed to be their golf games.

51 million Americans watched the debate. Which is a lot of people, but the fewest for a debate in 20 years. So maybe many are fatigued by the sad state of our nation’s politics at the highest level. 

A common refrain after Thursday was that there were no winners, and that America was really the big loser in all of this. Like something out of Seinfeld - we’re all apparent losers. Or maybe Billy Madison is more apropos. Meanwhile, Mark Cuban used Grok to analyze the debate and provide an interesting breakdown here. For an encore, these two will debate again on September 10th, for the final time prior to the election.