First presidential debate (5 Viewers)

[Optimus Prime]

Since we usually have a separate thread for these
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NEW YORK (AP) — President Joe Biden begins an intense period of private preparations Friday at Camp David for what may be the most consequential presidential debate in decades.

The 81-year-old Democrat’s team is aware that he cannot afford an underwhelming performance when he faces Republican rival Donald Trump for 90 minutes on live television Thursday night. Biden’s team is expecting aggressive attacks on his physical and mental strength, his record on the economy and immigration and even his family.

Trump, 78 and ever confident, will stay on the campaign trail before going to his Florida estate next week for two days of private meetings as part of an informal prep process.

The former president’s allies are pushing him to stay focused on his governing plans, but they’re expecting him to be tested by pointed questions about his unrelenting focus on election fraud, his role in the erosion of abortion rights and his unprecedented legal baggage.

Thursday’s debate on CNN will be full of firsts, with the potential to reshape the presidential race. Never before in the modern era have two presumptive nominees met on the debate stage so early in the general election season. Never before have two White House contenders faced off at such advanced ages, with widespread questions about their readiness.

And never before has a general election debate participant been saddled with a felony conviction. The debate-stage meeting comes just two weeks before Trump is scheduled to be sentenced on 34 felony counts in his New York hush money trial.

“You can argue this will be the most important debate, at least in my lifetime,” said Democratic strategist Jim Messina, 54, who managed former President Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign.

PRESSURE ON BIDEN


The ground rules for Thursday’s debate, the first of two scheduled meetings, are unusual.

The candidates agreed to meet at a CNN studio in Atlanta with no audience. Each candidate’s microphone will be muted, except when it’s his turn to speak. No props or prewritten notes will be allowed onstage. The candidates will be given only a pen, a pad of paper and a bottle of water.

There will be no opening statements. A coin flip determined that Biden would stand at the podium to the viewer’s right, while Trump would deliver the final closing statement.


The next debate won’t be until September. Any stumbles Thursday will be hard to erase or replace quickly.………..

How Biden and Trump are taking very different approaches to preparing for next week's debate

President Joe Biden is beginning an intense period of private debate preparations at Camp David. His trip comes as officials in both parties scramble to set expectations for what may be the most consequential presidential debate in decades.

apnews.com

 

[bird]

Isn’t he not getting the benefit of the doubt because the concern is his (Biden) age, and you can’t recover from getting old.

Welp, apparently Trump cannot recover from lying. And he ain’t much younger.

 

[J-DONK]

Isn’t he not getting the benefit of the doubt because the concern is his (Biden) age, and you can’t recover from getting old.

This has also been an ongoing thing for a while now.

 

[bird]

And after his election process I still don’t know what Wawa is.

Wawa is a chain of gas station/convenience stores.

 

[Incumbent]

All due respect to him, one isn't like the other. This isn't for a Congressional seat. This is for the White House.

Yes, but there is also a lot of analysis that says debates aren't usually as pivotal as we might perceive them to be. In a vacuum, in the moment, sure. It's all people are going to talk about. A week from now? A month from now? November? The race is still almost certainly going to be won or lost on a balance of moments and considerations. As the disappointment settles, we are left with what we already knew we had; two old guys, neither of whom are good candidates. One of them is a decent person, though, trying to do the right things for his country and for others. The other is a threat to our nation and only in this for himself.

I think a lot of us wanted Biden to have a strong showing to boost confidence in him. That didn't happen and the reality - I think the unchanged reality - is this is going to be a slog to the finish. We just have to hope he can shine enough in other settings where the message can get through to the people who can be reached.

Ideally, I wish Biden had chosen to serve one term and pass the baton in a timely way (generally, I prefer younger candidates) but he didn't and it is us, the voters, who are ultimately responsible for what happens in November. We know what's on the ballot and what is at stake. More than just president, it's an entire administration, the judiciary, policies, and diplomacy.

 

[DaveXA]

Yes, but there is also a lot of analysis that says debates aren't usually as pivotal as we might perceive them to be. In a vacuum, in the moment, sure. It's all people are going to talk about. A week from now? A month from now? November? The race is still almost certainly going to be won or lost on a balance of moments and considerations. As the disappointment settles, we are left with what we already knew we had; two old guys, neither of whom are good candidates. One of them is a decent person, though, trying to do the right things for his country and for others. The other is a threat to our nation and only in this for himself.

I think a lot of us wanted Biden to have a strong showing to boost confidence in him. That didn't happen and the reality - I think the unchanged reality - is this is going to be a slog to the finish. We just have to hope he can shine enough in other settings where the message can get through to the people who can be reached.

Ideally, I wish Biden had chosen to serve one term and pass the baton in a timely way (generally, I prefer younger candidates) but he didn't and it is us, the voters, who are ultimately responsible for what happens in November. We know what's on the ballot and what is at stake. More than just president, it's an entire administration, the judiciary, policies, and diplomacy.

I'm not saying necessarily that the debate last night was consequential. I am saying that if Biden’s performance last night is any indication of what we can expect in the campaign going forward, the Biden campaign is in a lot of trouble.

He's not getting any younger, and maybe he recovers from his cold and does better, but it was a terrible performance and the Turmp campaign is going to make full use of the lowlights for Biden last night in the campaign going forward. It's not going to be pretty.

 

[Incumbent]

I have no idea what people are arguing about this for. Biden's words, his demeanor, and his wit were all worrying. He looked every bit of 81. I have no idea why he ran again.

If he is truly up to the task, then he needs to start giving interviews, esp a few hostile ones. He won't because he can't.

Obama, Clinton, and the major powerbrokers of the party need to figure out a way to replace him at the top of the ticket.

It's a valid concern. Biden definitely played into the characterization of himself by his opposition. But...so did Trump. And Trump does it every time he's in front of a camera.

I get it, perceived weakness scares people. Perhaps more than malice and incompetence. You're right that confidants and powerbrokers have some tough considerations to make. All of this sets up for some difficult circumstances, no matter how it plays out.

It really sucks, though, that we find ourselves in a place where all of the burden of accountability is heaped entirely on one side of the aisle.

 

[SFIDC3]

This changes nothing for me, I'm voting for whomever the democratic candidate is....period.....whether it's Biden, or anyone else.....

Folks who claim to know that one side of the aisle has lost their sanity need to remember which side that is.....

That said, Biden's campaign team should have never agreed to this type of debate format.....Trump comfortably lied his way through not even addressing the questions and CNN is a disgrace......

I still firmly believe there are millions of women who realize what the stakes are and that will be the difference in the election.....

Also, take my ball and going home Steve is a troll and always has been full of shart.....

 

[Lapaz]

Isn’t he not getting the benefit of the doubt because the concern is his (Biden) age, and you can’t recover from getting old.

That's exactly why Biden is not getting the benefit of doubt to recover. You can't point to past performance for reassurance that Biden will recover from the affects of his age.

 

[Incumbent]

I'm not saying necessarily that the debate last night was consequential. I am saying that if Biden’s performance last night is any indication of what we can expect in the campaign going forward, the Biden campaign is in a lot of trouble.

He's not getting any younger, and maybe he recovers from his cold and does better, but it was a terrible performance and the Turmp campaign is going to make full use of the lowlights for Biden last night in the campaign going forward. It's not going to be pretty.

Sure. But it was a terrible performance for both candidates, and those performances are being graded on entirely different metrics.

Both are old. Both have raised concerns about their abilities. Only one has sparked a frenzy of pearl-clutching, the morning after. Like I said, I know that's in large part because expectations were higher for Biden, but that only serves to embolden Trump, who shouldn't be afforded that benefit. Biden is still a better leader by any number of other measures.

 

[Lapaz]

Welp, apparently Trump cannot recover from lying. And he ain’t much younger.

Trump is horrible and a liar, and not much older, but people still want to vote for him. He isn't showing signs of becoming a bigger liar nor becoming a worse person, and he has been saying crazy things since 2015, so those crazy things, like the shark nonsense, is barely fazing him. Trump's support seems to have bottomed out, but Biden hasn't bottomed out, and Biden is tied at best, but seems to be trailing, especially in the electoral college.

 

[SamAndreas]

I miss the good old days when we had guys like Obama debating Mitt Romney. The good old days...12 years ago.

During the first debate that year, Romney did much better than Obama, Obama had a cold.

Biden has a cold right now. And he's old right now. Factually he didn't just win the debate, he blew the Criminal out of contention.

There are actually people who are thinking about the old Criminal, instead of him for those infirmaries.

Did the lying Criminal impress you?

One person doesn't need to fix this, somewhere around half of voters in American need to break this Criminal's poison spell.

About half of Russians need to break their Criminal's poison spell Putin holds over them as well. Turkey has a problem as well.

 

[Booker]

I miss the good old days when we had guys like Obama debating Mitt Romney. The good old days...12 years ago.

I remember my biggest concern with Romney was the issue of the Supreme Court, and not wanting to see it move further right. Which ended up happening anyway, just four years later.

 

[J-DONK]

During the first debate that year, Romney did much better than Obama, Obama had a cold.

Biden has a cold right now. And he's old right now. Factually he didn't just win the debate, he blew the Criminal out of contention.

There are actually people who are thinking about the old Criminal, instead of him for those infirmaries.

Did the lying Criminal impress you?

One person doesn't need to fix this, somewhere around half of voters in American need to break this Criminal's poison spell.

About half of Russians need to break their Criminal's poison spell Putin holds over them as well. Turkey has a problem as well.

People have to stop making up fantasies about the first Obama vs Romney debate. Romney was prepared and polished. The general opinion was that Obama didn't take it serious enough, and simply didn't put in the time to prep properly. There is an overall phenomenon of the challenger(if trailing the incumbent) looking better vs the incumbent because they are viewed as equals when debating.

This board has gone full copium comparing Biden's performance to Obama's in 2012.

 

[SamAndreas]

Joe Biden is an 81 year old in decline and the intensity of the job will or only accelerate that decline.

A Gavin Newsom type would win handily.

Gavin Newsom is quite busy at this moment being my Governor.

 

[SamAndreas]

Newsom's thoughts. Company-line, sure, but it's not without some truth.

That reminds me of what I said last night.

I asked folks around here if I were the only Democrat on the board.

At that moment last night I was pretty sure I was the only Democrat who was posting here.

 

[DaveXA]

Sure. But it was a terrible performance for both candidates, and those performances are being graded on entirely different metrics.

Both are old. Both have raised concerns about their abilities. Only one has sparked a frenzy of pearl-clutching, the morning after. Like I said, I know that's in large part because expectations were higher for Biden, but that only serves to embolden Trump, who shouldn't be afforded that benefit. Biden is still a better leader by any number of other measures.

I don't disagree. A rock would be better than Trump. It's really not saying much, and actually quite telling that we even need to have the discussion. Any other smart and sharp politician would have wiped the floor with Trump and said more than "that's a lie!"

In politics, to a large degree, perception is reality. And many people perceive Trump to be stronger than Biden in multiple ways. He doesn't deserve it, but it is what it is.

Biden is going to be playing defense until election day and that's a recipe for disaster.

 

[coldseat]

I watched about three quarters of the debate before I turned it off. Biden looked every bit of his 80-years of his age, obviously everybody saw it. Trump is a deranged lunatic that can only put together word salads or rambling streams of thoughts and lies. He was exactly that last night.

When the campaigning started to heat up, I had hoped Biden would hang it up and let another Democrat take the reigns'. When it was obvious Biden was going to run, I moved on from that. There's no sugar coating that this was a bad debate performance for Biden. He got lost, mumbled, quoted wrong numbers, trailed off into hazy thoughts, etc. He got things rights and made good points as well, but it just wasn't enough to put aside worries about his age. He can't really do anything to turn the reality/perception about his age around. He's going to have to lean into it, admit that he has some minor lapses at times as most 80-years olds do, but try to reassure voters the he's fully mentally there. I have my doubts that it will be effective in getting people to turn out and vote for him, but we'll see.

There's nothing much to say about Trump other than he's the whack job, narcissistic, unintelligible goon he's always been, now we can just add convicted criminal to it. I don't see how this debate helps him, but he and his cult are going to praise him no matter what and claim he won huge. I couldn't count how many times I said, "what the hell is he talking about" when Trump was speaking. It's like you need some special codex to understand his rambling, but even if you had it it still wouldn't make sense. If Biden doesn't inspire trust because of his age, Trump inspires even less due to his inability to think rationally and coherently.

Doesn't do anything to change my vote, but then again nothing would. I will never vote for Trump or 90% of the current Republicans. On substance, you still clearly want Biden leading the country between the two. But honestly given the lapses witnessed during the debate, that doesn't inspire much confidence. With Americans obsessed with influence culture and the fakeness of it all, the debate likely helps Trump, but I think only marginally.

As an aside, my 18-year old was watching with me and he was just aghast at how bad it was. He's demoralized that this is going to be his first election, but there's no way he's voting for Trump.

 

[efil4]

As an aside, my 18-year old was watching with me and he was just aghast at how bad it was. He's demoralized that this is going to be his first election, but there's no way he's voting for Trump.

my 21 yr old same- simply will not vote Trump ( or 3rd party ) because she understands just how dangerous Trump is.

( however she ( and my 15 yr old ) is fully committed to holding good ole "dad" to his ramblings of moving to Portugal/Spain should Trump win and decimate the US Government apparatus as we know it )