I wonder if, like me, you were left questioning after last Thursday night’s presidential debate in a country of nearly 340 million citizens whether these are the best candidates we can find?
Is either even close? I don’t believe anyone – Republican or Democrat – can truly, deeply, honestly respond with a heartfelt, “Yes.” It was a thoroughly discouraging display.
Put aside partisan preference for a moment and objectively take a look at the current president’s underwhelming on-stage and mental performance versus his recently convicted opponent’s penchant for half-truths, revisionist history, and insults.
No international relations were seriously discussed; no domestic policies were proposed or defended by cold, hard facts; no political platforms were established or reinforced. To quote the late Clara Peller, “Where’s the beef?”
Instead, we were inundated with opinions, accusations, deflections, questionable memories, and, far too often, childlike arguing. I mean, at one point, they were “debating” their golf scores!
Pathetic.
Neither of these men appears fit for arguably the most demanding and scrutinized job in the world, and anyone saying otherwise is either blinded by loyalty, fueled by hatred, or, most likely, a combination of both with a big dose of partisan delusion on the side.
Would you trust President Biden to drive your kids around right now? I wouldn’t, not if he was my own father, father-in-law, or a close, older friend.
In fact, I think I’d be trying to convince him to give me the keys before he or someone else gets hurt or killed. (And right now, it feels like that someone is us, btw!)
Between Biden’s frequently incoherent comments and Trump’s easily disprovable and ludicrous claims (“They will take the life of a child … even after birth!”), these men and their parties have dragged American presidential politics to a new low. Yes, mistakes have been made and there have been scandals, incompetence, and criminality in many administrations past, but that “debate,” a generous use of the term, showcased so many on just one stage.
My understanding is that there remains about a one-month window to select a Democratic candidate who could appear on all 50 state ballots come November. That’s not much time, but I believe not doing so would essentially return the next presidency to the hands of quite possibly the worst candidate—based solely on measurable performance and not his fans’ feelings—in U.S. history.
It may already be too late, but in my mind, the Democrats would be well-served to do whatever it takes to get Biden off the ballot and put someone younger, more aggressive, more informed, and smarter than Trump in his place. Seriously, after what we saw in Atlanta last week, how hard could that really be – in all respects?
Now, do I really think that will happen?
Nope. I suspect the Washington spinmeisters – no doubt already at work before the debate logo faded from my screen last Thursday – will successfully convince the internal Democratic powers that be, who in turn will reassure their wishful loyalists at home, that it was just a setback for the president and not the catastrophe we all witnessed.
We'll most likely see a week or two of Democrat handwringing, but caution and fear will prevail in going with the known commodity. Meanwhile, Republicans will create an ever-looping infomercial in their minds of a doddering, bumbling Biden, Democrats will try to look past what they saw with their own two eyes to see instead only an unrepentant candidate proffering “alternate realities,” and the rest of us will just be taken along for the ride.
Seriously, is this really the best we can manage?