(Disclaimer – I wrote this right after the first debate. I never, in a million years, thought that Joe Biden would drop out of the race. Clearly I didn’t know Joe. Joe loves America the way we all should. Anyway here is my argument to get behind Joe!)
I stopped watching debates 12 to 15 years ago. What exactly is the point of a presidential debate? What are we going to learn? Are we going to learn how the candidates will govern? No. A debate is an artificial situation that has nothing to do with governing the country.
Phony, irrelevant “debates”
This is not 1960 or even 1980. Before the debate begins, we know exactly where the candidates stand on every issue. In 1960, where did Richard Nixon stand on alleviating inner-city poverty? There was no way to know. Now, almost every imaginable question has been addressed. Every candidate has a website with their positions.
We do not have debates. The candidates are not forced to stay on topic or address the question. This is nonsense. In the ninth grade, I took debate. I learned how to formulate an argument logically. Points were deducted if I didn’t address the question. Points were deducted if I made up data (lied). Nobody deducts points if Donald Trump lies. We expect it.
So, the debate did not go as expected. Joe Biden turned in a “poor” performance. Seriously, are you surprised? Remember, a young, nimble, wickedly smart Barack Obama had a terrible debate performance against Mitt Romney. Again, the sky was falling. Democrats were running around trying to decide if we needed to replace Barack Obama on the Democratic ticket. The thought is laughable now, but there was lots of consternation at the time.
Today, we have the same nonsense. Some Democrats have asked Joe Biden to step down. That time has passed. Now, we ride with Joe or don’t ride at all. But … There are no buts. This is reality. Joe Biden decided he wanted to run for reelection. We’ve had primaries. Joe Biden won. This is where we are.
