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14 27

The Most Important Thing Biden Did During Tuesday’s Debate

Trump did his best to make the whole thing an unwatchable nightmare, but this one answer saved the night.

By DAHLIA LITHWICK

"Here was where Joe Biden did his best work of the evening. Instead of accusing Trump, Trump’s postmaster general, Trump’s attorney general, Trump’s new Supreme Court nominee, or anyone else of outright stealing the election—which has the effect of depressing the very voter confidence he needs to encourage—Biden did almost precisely what communications expert Anat Shenker-Osorio has been suggesting voting advocates do in discussing “rigged elections”:

"He made it clear that this is not Trump’s election, but the voters’. As Shenker-Osorio puts it in an interview with Rolling Stone:

“When he says I’m not going to step down—or the ‘covfefe version’ of that in his garbled way of talking—instead of repeating him, Democrats should say, ‘Over my dead body. You don’t decide how long you’re in this job. We do.’ ” More from Shenker-Osorio:

" If Trump believes he’s going to block us from deciding our next government, he’s got another thing coming. We’re turning out in record numbers and this will be a government by and for the people. If he needs to be ushered out of the White House by force, and that seems to be what he’s asking for—if need be, we’ll deliver.

“This is all about trying to dissuade people from voting because he’s trying to scare people into thinking that it’s not going to be legitimate,” Biden said. And then he built a seven-layer truth sandwich as he carefully outlined mail-in voting procedures, warned voters to allow time for every vote to be counted, described how to challenge invalidated ballots, and explained how the pandemic has complicated voting. Biden explained that Trump’s own national security experts have discredited his mail fraud claims.

The words echoed President Barack Obama’s convention speech urging patience and confidence and determination in every voter. It was simple. Biden simply reminded everyone to just “show up and vote. You will determine the outcome of this election. Vote, vote, vote.”

"What Biden did on Tuesday that matters more than anything else was to remind us how to keep Donald Trump out of our heads in the weeks before the election. In the most technical, brass tacks formulation he could muster, he simply told everyone who wants to be counted how to do that and where to do that and why, if they in fact do that, Donald Trump will be gone in January.

"The debate was a misery to the extent we had to witness—yet again—broken truth, shattered norms, and needless, abusive cruelty that Trump acts out for his base on every stage and in every forum.

"But it was a triumph as a mechanism for reframing the idea of power and agency and hope, none of which Donald Trump controls, and none of which should be surrendered when it is needed most."

[slate.com]

LiterateHiker 9 Oct 1
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14 comments

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1

Would wearing a mask count?

1

It appears things are going in the right direction barring any unexpected surprises or tragedys

2

The past 4 years America has felt lost in the wilderness. A return to normalcy would be nice.

A return not to what was but something much better looking out of the people first

3

Trump took sick advantage of the fact that Biden has to concentrate to avoid stuttering, which is a difficult feat while being incessantly talked over and interupted. Hard to get any point across under the circumstances, but he did get a whole thought out while concentrating into the lens of the camera to the American people.

2

Great evaluation of what Biden did, and what we all need to do. I do hope that people will come out in record numbers. We need to desperately

1

Thank you for this post. We are lucky in this state as mail-in voting has been the norm for years and we our system down and working. I wonder how the people in your area feel about this 'voter fraud' issue since it is pushed by their hero?

2

won't leave the White House??....you will ..peacefully or in a body bag..your choice

3

I would've loved to have been in Biden's ear feeding him comebacks to Trump's abuse. He let so many opportunities go by to humiliate that dipshit. Still, in all, he did okay for a man trying to have an intelligent discussion with an orangutan.

3

Excerpts from Heather Cox Richardson's article of September 30:

Neo-Nazis and right-wing thugs are thrilled they have a fellow traveler in the White House. “I got shivers,” Andrew Anglin, the founder of the neo-Nazi website the Daily Stormer, wrote Wednesday. “I still have shivers. He is telling the people to stand by. As in: Get ready for war.”

But not everyone was thrilled with Trump’s performance. Focus groups of women were turned off by his bullying, and his male supporters thought he interrupted too much. An adviser called it “a disaster.” Politico’s chief political correspondent Tim Alberta thought Trump looked exhausted and “behaved like cornered prey.” The Commission on Presidential Debates is reworking its rules to try to prevent another spectacle like last night.

Foreign observers were “aghast,” according to an AP report; Kenyan commentator Patrick Gathara wrote: “This debate would be sheer comedy if it wasn’t such a pitiful and tragic advertisement for U.S. dysfunction.”

Even within the White House people were dismayed. “It’s nuts…” “total lunacy,” an official and a staffer told Vanity Fair’s Gabriel Sherman. A prominent Republican added: “Trump didn’t win over any voters, and he pissed off a lot of people.”

Perhaps most important today was the news that the FBI’s Dallas Field Office yesterday released an intelligence report warning that a “violent extremist threat” is imminent, and that the period between now and the inauguration next January is a “potential flashpoint.” That threat comes not from the “left,” as Trump charges, but from the right-wing gangs that Trump is encouraging, including the Boogaloos, a staunchly anti-government group that is working to bring about a race war to speed up the collapse of the government.

[facebook.com]

3

I watched it. Had to take an afternoon nap so I could stay up to watch it.. I liked when Biden looked right in the camera.. Good move.. Trump was oblivious to it... Biden did OK.. Trump failed..

@Cutiebeauty

It was painful to watch Trump's abuse.

Trump has spent his presidency surrounding himself with "yes men." He bans reporters who challenge him. It was good to see Biden and Chris Wallace push back on Trump.

I loved adjectives used to describe Trump's behavior: "abusive, bullying, angry, despicable, incoherent, constantly interrupting, racist, ignorant, unhinged, lying, blasting, fearful, and like a cornered animal."

@LiterateHiker trump didn't abuse Biden, he abused
And disrespected Wallace.. Biden didn't stand for that trump nonsense..

3

This debate alone may win the election for Biden!

For rhe first time, Biden knew how to use the camera. He always had a pleasant or earnest expression, chuckled in disbelief at Trump's nonsense, and stared into camera - not at Trump, not at the moderator - but at all the VOTERS watching the debate, connecting with them.

Meanwhile, Trump was constantly staring at Biden with a grumpy constipated look on his face. This had the effect of drawing all eyes towards Biden!

This was amazing because this meant most of the debate naturally framed Biden as the focus, as the pointman against Trumps nonsense, and really built viewer kinship with Biden.

It felt like those moments in The Office (the tv show) when Jim breaks the fourth wall and connects with the audience with those "Do you believe this guy?" or "I can't believe he said that" expressions. The audience identified with Jim (or Pam). They were the pointman (or woman) witnessing the crazy antics of others in the office.

And in this debate the voters got to identify with Biden witnessing the crazy mess of Trump. And Trump helped set this up.

What a great denate for Biden. Good for him!

0

We got to get them out in "33" baby. 😁

4

This was the worst presidential debate i've watched, and i've seen lots. Annoyed as I was,
I watched it all. I'm glad Biden stood up Trump; hopefully enough voters do the same.

8

"Will you just shut up, man" was nice too. I've been wishing I could say it in person for over four years now.

That is an excellent quote. 😆

I saw some t-shirts advertised that used that quote

@BudFrank Do you have a website for them?

@Paul4747 [sfgate.com]

@BudFrank Biden's campaign had some official shirts, they sold out in hours

@BudFrank & @Paul4747

I think this will be the winning quote for the rest of the election: I know at least three people who have already ordered the t-shirts. There are some cool ones on Etsy and Redbubble.

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