Trump needed to hit Biden on the economy and taxes. Instead, he obsessed over Hunter Biden, law and order.
Substantively and politically, Joe Biden won the first presidential debate.
Donald Trump did score some points; however, he missed many opportunities to hit Biden, especially on the economy. And, because Biden is the clear front runner, Trump’s failure to knock him off his perch means that Biden is one step closer to becoming President of these United States.
To be sure, Trump threw a lot of punches, but most of his punches failed to connect; and he too often failed to throw punches when it mattered most.
Taxes. For example, Trump said next to nothing about Biden’s $4-trillion tax plan, which threatens to sink the stock market and throw the economy into a prolonged depression.
Debate moderator Chris Wallace, in fact, asked the sharp question about Biden’s tax plan that Trump himself should have asked, but did not.
Of course, Trump partisans will plausibly spin this debate as a win for their candidate because Trump did hit Biden hard on multiple occasions.
Trump, for instance, asked Biden to name one police organization or law enforcement agency that had endorsed him for president. Biden literally had no answer.
However, the truth is that, in the aggregate, Trump did little to convince independents and undecided voters that they should vote for him.
Biden, meanwhile, seemed sharper than usual and suffered no real senior moment. And Trump may well have turned off many voters with his childish petulance, bullying, and constant interruptions in violation of the ground rules of the debate.
I suppose it’s possible that Trump may have inspired more voters already predisposed to vote for him to go to the polls on his behalf, but that, to me, seems a long shot.
The more likely outcome, I think, is that independents and undecided voters watch this debate say, “Joe’s OK. I can live with him.”
We’ll see.
Feature photo credit: New York Post.