The Trouncing

A debate with no audience.  A debate that even barred other reporters.  Strict time limits.  Two moderators who have clearly been anti-Trump.  It was a debate that most candidates would refuse.  Trump accepted and the trouncing began.  Mostly, this was a debate of contrasts.  Joe Biden looks old, sounds old, and frankly is old.  He is too old.  There were plenty of accusations back and forth.  Trump repeatedly called Biden the worst president ever.  Biden called Trump a convicted felon and sexual predator.  I suspect a transcript would narrow the gap in performances, but the visuals were quite bad for President Biden.  Interestingly, though Snopes recently declared the Fine People story from Charlottesville to be false, Biden brought it up as though it were true.

As for moderators, we need to do away with them.  Not entirely, but certainly as far as the questions are concerned.  Let the candidates ask each other questions.  They will each go for the jugular and it will be a livelier debate.  Keep the moderator(s) purely for timekeeping and some organization.  For instance, "It is your question, President Biden."  Give something like 30 seconds to ask a question and a couple of minutes to answer.  Some rebuttals as needed.  However, rebuttals go against their time, so one needs to be strategic.  Have a time on their podium, so everyone knows how much time each has used.  Would need to do some tweaks to deal with talking over one another.  It is beyond exasperating that every four years, the moderators are a bunch of Democrats who can't help but favor the Democrat.  With clear time rules and candidates asking the questions, that issue goes away.

In some of the post-debate commentary, I read calls to dump Biden at the convention.  Yeah, probably a good idea.  Also, Joe Biden is the reason for the 25th Amendment, sections 3 and/or 4.  Woodrow Wilson had a debilitation stroke in 1919 and yet remained president until 1921.  Very few will willingly surrender power, which is why George Washington was such a great man and Joe Biden is not.  Of course, his party is also to blame; they prefer him over Kalama Harris, or he would have been removed already.