2020 PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES: Joe Biden vs Donald Trump

[Mrs Whiggins 13,049]

It's here. The lights, the makeup, the hair, the drugs, and the content for which you've been waiting.

The first presidential debate will be held on Tuesday, September 29 at Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, OH.

The format for the first debate calls for six 15-minute time segments dedicated to topics announced in advance in order to encourage deep discussion of the leading issues facing the country.

Chris Wallace, moderator of the first 2020 presidential debate, has selected the topics for that debate.

Subject to possible changes because of news developments, the topics for the September 29 debate are as follows, not necessarily to be brought up in this order:
The Trump and Biden Records
The Supreme Court
Covid-19
The Economy
Race and Violence in our Cities
The Integrity of the Election

All debates start at 9:00 p.m. ET and run for 90 minutes without commercial interruption.

 

 

[InkaUtexas 25,424]

Lets give them boxing gloves. 

[Goredho 17,302]

I’ll leave it to the viewer’s interpretation which is Trump, which is Biden and which is Chris Wallace.

Edited September 29, 2020 by Goredho

[Horn Dog 9,644]

I was thinking about Biden's strategy for dealing with Trump just lying his ass off tonight.    Hillary tried to just ignore it, which was not very effective.  Using your time to correct him is also ineffective.  I think the key is to shame and embarrass him.  How?  Turn it into a game.

Biden Opening statement:   "Tonight Trump is going to lie constantly.  We can't stop him.  But if you go to to Biden2020.com and enter your guess for how many lie Trump will tell tonight, you may win something.  Every time he tells a lie tonight I will announce  "That is Trump Lie number ___!"  If you guess the correct number of lies that Trump say in this debate, you will win 2 VIP tickets to my inauguration.  Good luck!"

[MNLonghornFUKM 8,799]

Is this going to be the most watched event ever?

[4th&Five 41,457]

Probably not even for the week. 

[Beantown Express 2.0 6,531]

I fully expect Trump to pull down his pants and his Depends in the middle of the debate and take a shit on the stage.  I then expect Joe to yell at the camera, "come on, man" while pointing at Trump taking a shit on stage.  Lastly, after the debate I expect Fox News and all of Trumps team to tell the world that he won the debate and the key part was when he took a dump on the stage.  

[Mrs Whiggins 13,049]

8 minutes ago, Horn Dog said:

I was thinking about Biden's strategy for dealing with Trump just lying his ass off tonight.    Hillary tried to just ignore it, which was not very effective.  Using your time to correct him is also ineffective.  I think the key is to shame and embarrass him.  How?  Turn it into a game.

Biden Opening statement:   "Tonight Trump is going to lie constantly.  We can't stop him.  But if you go to to Biden2020.com and enter your guess for how many lie Trump will tell tonight, you may win something.  Every time he tells a lie tonight I will announce  "That is Trump Lie number ___!"  If you guess the correct number of lies that Trump say in this debate, you will win 2 VIP tickets to my inauguration.  Good luck!"

OMG, if this is allowable, I would sooooo be on this.

[Mrs Whiggins 13,049]

7 minutes ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

Is this going to be the most watched event ever?

Doubtful, but it's going to be up there. It's on all the major outlets w/o interruption. I don't know if that means that Fox will put the screen in a little box so they can talk over the debate if it's looking poorly for their candidate or not, that was something they tended to do if Trump went off the rails during the rallies.

[immamac 42,492]

2 minutes ago, Mrs Whiggins said:

OMG, if this is allowable, I would sooooo be on this.

I'm pretty sure that this is actually what will happen. It will not have any effect on what is going on.

even if trump gets all the independents left it seems like it's too far gone for him and that's the problem for both parties at the moment, most people are already decided and decided in a way that has them put blinders on. This is pure entertainment and that plays better into Trump's hands than it does to Biden's, because Trump is an entertainer.

[immamac 42,492]

Biden needs to out entertain Trump - if he beats him at his own game people may actually wake up from their blinders and say "holy shit that biden guy is vicious, I like vicious" and the people already voting for him will get huge raging boners with the exception of a few snowflakes.

The problem with that is that Joe Biden still respects the process and the office too much to make this a "show", he's taking this all way too seriously and as a result it'll be a lot more strengthening the Trump base instead of getting them to stay home. Democrats don't want voter suppression because they don't "need it" in the traditional sense as if 100% turnout was a thing the democrats would wipe the floor with the republicans. The problem is that they can't get 100% of their voters out because of suppression and the republicans can get damned close to getting everyone out and excited about it by flufffing them constantly.

[Neonmoon 38,127]

That why these debates are pointless from Biden's perspective. There will be no actual debating the issues. There will be no policy discussion. It's just going to be Trump lying the whole time saying insane and asinine shit. When one party won't even acknowledge the same reality, you can't debate them on different aspects of said reality. Do you just have to consistently point out the other person is lying? Is that his strategy? I really have no idea. 

[Red Five 40,593]

Biden should absolutely not try to "out entertain" Trump. He'd look like a clown. 

[4th&Five 41,457]

Get ready to hear “Obama and Biden were a disaster” about 3 dozen times. 

[Biff Tannen 45,477]

6 minutes ago, Neonmoon said:

That why these debates are pointless from Biden's perspective. There will be no actual debating the issues. There will be no policy discussion. It's just going to be Trump lying the whole time saying insane and asinine shit. When one party won't even acknowledge the same reality, you can't debate them on different aspects of said reality. Do you just have to consistently point out the other person is lying? Is that his strategy? I really have no idea. 

This.  I think the only thing you can really do is belittle him and poke him to try and make him snap.  The idea of debating policy with this man is preposterous.

[Biff Tannen 45,477]

[Mrs Whiggins 13,049]

Just now, immamac said:

I'm pretty sure that this is actually what will happen. It will not have any effect on what is going on.

even if trump gets all the independents left it seems like it's too far gone for him and that's the problem for both parties at the moment, most people are already decided and decided in a way that has them put blinders on. This is pure entertainment and that plays better into Trump's hands than it does to Biden's, because Trump is an entertainer.

Valid points, but Trump's game is weakening. I won't argue whether it is age-related decline, his medical issues but he's not the entertainer he was. He's still adept at riling people up, but the audience for this debate is going to be much smaller and I do not believe Trump was able to circumvent the mask requirement (for attendees). I guess it will depend on if Wallace wants to moderate or let them fly.

I also agree that most viewers have selected their candidate. Biden has been dealing with bullies since he was school age, so we will see how he handles this one. That is one thing that folks forget. He was bullied in a different way than Trump (who was also bullied I'm sure) but unlike Trump, Biden didn't have a rich father and he didn't have a rich father with mafia connections, and he overcame that to become a success. That won't change minds, but it's what I'm watching: will he be able to take advantage of Trump's attacks and turn them to his advantage. He doesn't have to 'entertain', I agree he'd look like a clown. But he's not stupid. People keep mistaking his stutter for stupid. He didn't do well in debates when the stage was crowded, but I think he'll do better here one on one.

[Snake Diggity 4,614]

Biden’s best strategy: Call out the lies (just say “you’re a liar” or “that was a lie”) and quickly move on.  Pound the botched COVID response into the ground.  As often as possible, bring up bone spurs, Russian bounties, “Losers” and “Suckers”, marital infidelity, taxes, and bankruptcy.  It is totally ok to avoid talking policy; this election is not about policy.
 

Trump’s best strategy: Interrupt and taunt Biden as much as possible in an effort to throw him off and make him stutter or lose his train of thought.

Unfortunately Trump is in the same spot going into the debates as he was in 2016: the underdog.  He cannot win the election in the debate, but he can cause his opponent to lose the election in the debate. 
 

Fortunately Trump is the underdog for entirely different reasons than 2016.  The bar for Biden‘s debate performance to help him continue winning is very low.

 

Edited September 29, 2020 by Snake Diggity

[dingleberryswitzer 2,724]

Would it be inappropriate for Biden to hand Trump a fresh jar of warm piss instead of shaking hands?  

[Mrs Whiggins 13,049]

8 minutes ago, Snake Diggity said:

Biden’s best strategy: Call out the lies (just say “you’re a liar” or “that was a lie”) and quickly move on.  Pound the botched COVID response into the ground.  As often as possible, bring up bone spurs, Russian bounties, “Losers” and “Suckers”, marital infidelity, taxes, and bankruptcy.  It is totally ok to avoid talking policy; this election is not about policy.
 

Trump’s best strategy: Interrupt and taunt Biden as much as possible in an effort to throw him off and make him stutter or lose his train of thought.

Unfortunately Trump is in the same spot going into the debates as he was in 2016: the underdog.  He cannot win the election in the debate, but he can cause his opponent to lose the election in the debate. 
 

Fortunately Trump is the underdog for entirely different reasons than 2016.  The bar for Biden‘a debate performance to help him continue winning is very low.

 

Also, the people who would vote for Trump because they LIKE that he is a bully and "hurts the people they want to hurt," are not going to change their vote when Trump picks on a kind and compassionate man like Biden. These are the folks that cheered and jeered when the police pushed the elderly protestor down a few months ago.

But that's a risky game. Even though America has bullied folks around the globe, Americans as a whole don't seem to care for being seen that way. It goes against that American myth again. While Trump plays the populist underdog, he's got this seedy side that has been revealed and it's making more folks uncomfortable. I don't see those folks switching away from Biden. If they do, they were leaning Trump all along and looking for a way to feel comfortable about it.

[tantric superman 4,667]

45 minutes ago, Beantown Express 2.0 said:

I fully expect Trump to pull down his pants and his Depends in the middle of the debate and take a shit on the stage.  I then expect Joe to yell at the camera, "come on, man" while pointing at Trump taking a shit on stage.  Lastly, after the debate I expect Fox News and all of Trumps team to tell the world that he won the debate and the key part was when he took a dump on the stage.  

The Aristocrats!

[Neonmoon 38,127]

27 minutes ago, Snake Diggity said:

Biden’s best strategy: Call out the lies (just say “you’re a liar” or “that was a lie”) and quickly move on.  Pound the botched COVID response into the ground.  As often as possible, bring up bone spurs, Russian bounties, “Losers” and “Suckers”, marital infidelity, taxes, and bankruptcy.  It is totally ok to avoid talking policy; this election is not about policy.
 

Trump’s best strategy: Interrupt and taunt Biden as much as possible in an effort to throw him off and make him stutter or lose his train of thought.

Unfortunately Trump is in the same spot going into the debates as he was in 2016: the underdog.  He cannot win the election in the debate, but he can cause his opponent to lose the election in the debate. 
 

Fortunately Trump is the underdog for entirely different reasons than 2016.  The bar for Biden‘s debate performance to help him continue winning is very low.

 

This is spot on. 

[tx 3 putt 76,158]

Trump is going to open up with Hunter Biden, no matter the question. He’ll then threaten the Biden’s with an investigation and prison !!!!!

 

[Snake Diggity 4,614]

1 minute ago, tx 3 putt said:

Trump is going to open up with Hunter Biden, no matter the question. He’ll then threaten the Biden’s with an investigation and prison !!!!!

 

“Tell you what, Donald, Ill make you a bet as to which one of us has a kid that goes to jail first.  The wager is $750.”

[workswithseed 2,033]

41 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

Haha, Bidens eyes bleed. That would be fucking rad.

[Bullneck 18,976]

1 hour ago, Mrs Whiggins said:

It's here. The lights, the makeup, the hair, the drugs, and the content for which you've been waiting.

The first presidential debate will be held on Tuesday, September 29 at Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, OH.

The format for the first debate calls for six 15-minute time segments dedicated to topics announced in advance in order to encourage deep discussion of the leading issues facing the country.

Chris Wallace, moderator of the first 2020 presidential debate, has selected the topics for that debate.

Subject to possible changes because of news developments, the topics for the September 29 debate are as follows, not necessarily to be brought up in this order:
The Trump and Biden Records
The Supreme Court
Covid-19
The Economy
Race and Violence in our Cities
The Integrity of the Election

All debates start at 9:00 p.m. ET and run for 90 minutes without commercial interruption.

 

 

Climate change

[Guest Lobo]

I know Biden wants to take the high road and be empathetic with what most of America is going through (IT'S NOT 40% FOR TRUMP PEOPLE, it's closer to 30% of the U.S. adult population cast a vote for Trump).  

But having said that...he really does need to bait Trump on one thing and then just let his enemy destroy himself on live television.  And it's something akin to this line:

"If you have proof that President Obama and myself spied on your campaign, just let us know...here...tonight...now.  What exactly did we do...precisely?  And if you can't reveal the details due to legal sensitivity or an ongoing investigation...at least tell the American people who is investigating us for that treasonous crime because I have a few leads for them myself when it comes to suspecting high ranking government officials who may have committed treason.  You've talked about, for two years, that I was a party to the greatest political crime in American History. I am asking you here, tonight...Mr. President.  What specific crimes did I commit?  What evidence do you have?  And when can your supporters expect an arrest or indictment of me?  And I swear to fucking Christ, if you say 'two weeks', I'm gonna pull that dead mongoose off the top of your head you sentient enema."  

I mean his followers, at least have the decency to go along with his bullshit and spout off claims like "Media conspiracy, do-nothing Democrats, China, George Soros, Blue State Governors, et. al."  They're full of shit, and they know it...but they at least throw out some conspiracy they've been spoon-fed.  But the SpyGate/ObamaGate tirades stand alone in that he doesn't spout off some string of lies...he just gives that coy look and says, "Oh...you know." 

His supporters usually have no shortage of crazed lamentations to ramble on about.  But this one is unique in that their go-to is just "Oh...you know."  It has always cracked me up more than others because the serious GOP'ers that still support him, the ones that know how to read.  Even they kind of have this shocked and disheveled look on their face like, "Yeah, uh...Obama and Biden were for sure crooked.  But uh...see.  Here's the thing.  It's a lot of ins and outs and what have you's.  I mean you know you can't take him literally right?  Wait?  What's that?  Oh, a sitting President accusing other domestic citizens of treasonous manipulation of a federal election has to, by Congressional Statute, be taken seriously and initiate a federal criminal investigation out of constitutional obligation and can't just spout shit off like that in front of a free press to score political points?  He has to take action according to the Federal Register?  Well uh, shit.  I had something for this.  Hang on, I'm just gonna go out to the car and get something.  You see, my brother...he usually signs off on the evidence and then I do it as well.  Thanks for the beers." 

 

[Goredho 17,302]

Trumpkinbrain:  Biden won’t pee in a cup just like every other Presidential candidate hasn’t?  He must be hiding something awful!

Also Trumpkinbrain:  Trump won’t release his taxes unlike every other Presidential candidate?  Ok, cool.  MAGA!

Edited September 29, 2020 by Goredho

[Gap03 3,248]

What are the odds that Trump shows up with pupils like saucers, given he's already projected PED use onto Biden?

[thrillhammer 683]

1 hour ago, Beantown Express 2.0 said:

I fully expect Trump to pull down his pants and his Depends in the middle of the debate and take a shit on the stage.  I then expect Joe to yell at the camera, "come on, man" while pointing at Trump taking a shit on stage.  Lastly, after the debate I expect Fox News and all of Trumps team to tell the world that he won the debate and the key part was when he took a dump on the stage.  

and he'll still get 47% of the vote.  just like when he said grab em by the pussy, they still voted for him.  just like when he abused his power with ukraine, they still voted for him.  just like when he cheated on his taxes, they'll still vote for him.  they don't call him the teflon don for nuthin.

[BradInATX 9,208]

Biden is going to do what he's been doing the entire time. Play it safe and offer himself as a measured, steady Eddie alternative to the chaos of Trump. A reasonable bro dude. He'd do well to point out "gaffes" that Trump is going to make just to out-flank him there, because we all know that Trump is going to pounce as soon as Biden mispronounces a word. It's very obvious that Trump's strategy is to paint Biden as senile. Biden will be fine, IMO. At the Dem debates everyone expected him to shrivel and stammer amongst the great minds he was on stage with, and he did just fine. He'll be aight.

 

[Guest Lobo]

Can I change my opening salvo if I'm Biden? 

I walk out and shake Trump's hand...or whatever they're allowed to do during Covid-19?  I make it a point to look down at his left wrist and really admire the Patek and say, "That's a really nice watch...do they make it for men?"  

Obviously my macro point is a serious question for y'all...if you're his senior team...do you encourage him to just take the high road all night...or do you encourage him to take a few sarcastic jabs here and there to really fuck with Trump?  Again, these debates are gonna be more watched than maybe any others but are gonna sway fewer voters than any others.  I think there's maybe still 3% that gonna vote that are truly undecideds or are going third party to still get out there and vote their local down-ballot races.  So nobody is gonna abandon Trump tonight but I think a few people might look at the clown revealed and think, "Ah, fuck it...he's already got his SCOTUS nominee up there.  I ain't bothering to vote, fuck it."  I think all that can happen is that just enough people are so thoroughly embarrassed for the shitheap, they just get complacent and don't give a shit.  Not a lot, but enough hundreds of thousands across a few states to take this out of the landscape of contentiousness and just make it made in the shade for Diamond Joe and Blaze.  

[SimonBolivar 10,898]

2 minutes ago, Lobo said:

Can I change my opening salvo if I'm Biden? 

I walk out and shake Trump's hand...or whatever they're allowed to do during Covid-19?  I make it a point to look down at his left wrist and really admire the Patek and say, "That's a really nice watch...do they make it for men?"  

Obviously my macro point is a serious question for y'all...if you're his senior team...do you encourage him to just take the high road all night...or do you encourage him to take a few sarcastic jabs here and there to really fuck with Trump?  Again, these debates are gonna be more watched than maybe any others but are gonna sway fewer voters than any others.  I think there's maybe still 3% that gonna vote that are truly undecideds or are going third party to still get out there and vote their local down-ballot races.  So nobody is gonna abandon Trump tonight but I think a few people might look at the clown revealed and think, "Ah, fuck it...he's already got his SCOTUS nominee up there.  I ain't bothering to vote, fuck it."  I think all that can happen is that just enough people are so thoroughly embarrassed for the shitheap, they just get complacent and don't give a shit.  Not a lot, but enough hundreds of thousands across a few states to take this out of the landscape of contentiousness and just make it made in the shade for Diamond Joe and Blaze.  

On NPR they had one of his debate preppers on last week and they said that he was going to take the high road as much as possible, but that you have to hit back at least a little bit. It seemed like they really weren't looking to pick any fights and preferred to keep it boring. I'm not sure that's possible.

[Mrs Whiggins 13,049]

@GRHorn posted this in the election thread but here it is for debate discussion.

 

So, the President as incumbent is on the defensive and as the saying goes, the best defense is a good offense. I was thinking about this with respect to the President. He is a vain man and doesn't like to appear weak--hence the whole mask issue. He has been photographed with an outer ear piece and other accessories before, Biden has certainly worn an ear piece as well. For all I know, they both have hearing aids, but those would fit in the ear quite easily. The request for a break during an uninterrupted telecast (recall that the Democratic debates had commercial breaks) is an easy no for Trump: he wears diapers. Biden doesn't appear to have need of them. The comparison they are forcing of strong vs weak is obvious to Surly; you all have been talking about it for the last year and certainly since Biden was the nominee, but the people who haven't been paying attention and tune into Fox as one of their channels, this is what they will see and hear. Interesting. People talk about Trump's stamina and how long his rallies are but as someone who watches them on video, he's not up there the whole time. His other people are. He's going to need some extra juice to keep going.

 

[Mrs Whiggins 13,049]

1 hour ago, Bullneck said:

Climate change

Is that a new addition? The second debate will be in a town hall format with the audience asking questions and I haven't seen anything released beyond that but I expect that climate change will or should be anyway addressed. Wallace picked the topics but they are subject to change so I didn't know if he'd made an announcement or something.

[Neonmoon 38,127]

Did Biden also not consent to the prostate exam by Donald Jr.? WTF?

Edited September 29, 2020 by Neonmoon

[henrygandorf 29,174]

there's 2 ways trump can play this - either as a choice or a referendum on his performance.  he obviously can't let it be a referendum, so i expect most of what trump says will center around joe biden, hunter biden, and barack obama.  there's your fucking bingo card. 

trump will make this all about "joe biden's america" and make it seem as if pre-covid, he was in charge, because in his brain, he thinks he was doing a good job because the stock market (ignore the whole impeachment situation), and since covid, including the blm protests, that biden somehow took over.

biden needs to clearly explain that "joe biden's america" is something trump has concocted to try and distract america from his (lack of) covid response.  he needs to say that despite trump's claims, that he, like millions of other americans, is unemployed.

[Biff Tannen 45,477]

It's a weird feeling really looking forward to a debate while at the same time being horrified to watch it.

[Bama Chick 28,596]

Looks like Biden is going to have his team fact checking Trump in real time tonight.

Nice job snagging that Twitter handle.

[Mrs Whiggins 13,049]

4 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

It's a weird feeling really looking forward to a debate while at the same time being horrified to watch it.

I completely understand, my friend.

 

 

 

[Biff Tannen 45,477]

Biden should hammer him about trashing the pandemic playbook that the Obama admin left them.

[GRHorn 105]

1 hour ago, Mrs Whiggins said:

@GRHorn posted this in the election thread but here it is for debate discussion.

 

So, the President as incumbent is on the defensive and as the saying goes, the best defense is a good offense. I was thinking about this with respect to the President. He is a vain man and doesn't like to appear weak--hence the whole mask issue. He has been photographed with an outer ear piece and other accessories before, Biden has certainly worn an ear piece as well. For all I know, they both have hearing aids, but those would fit in the ear quite easily. The request for a break during an uninterrupted telecast (recall that the Democratic debates had commercial breaks) is an easy no for Trump: he wears diapers. Biden doesn't appear to have need of them. The comparison they are forcing of strong vs weak is obvious to Surly; you all have been talking about it for the last year and certainly since Biden was the nominee, but the people who haven't been paying attention and tune into Fox as one of their channels, this is what they will see and hear. Interesting. People talk about Trump's stamina and how long his rallies are but as someone who watches them on video, he's not up there the whole time. His other people are. He's going to need some extra juice to keep going.

 

Fake news?

 

[Mrs Whiggins 13,049]

No idea, much ado about nothing. Posturing (by the twitter account holder) because the incumbent has no platform upon which to stand.

Edited September 29, 2020 by Mrs Whiggins
clarifying statement

[Horn of Gabriel 1,590]

In before "malarkey" 

[4th&Five 41,457]

I just want Joe to spend 3 minutes explaining to Dotard what a tariff is. 

[DanTheHorn 4,893]

4 hours ago, Goredho said:

I’ll leave it to the viewer’s interpretation which is Trump, which is Biden and which is Chris Wallace.

The old man at the beginning of these video is standing around with the confidence of having the high ground.

 

Edited September 29, 2020 by DanTheHorn

[Superhero 8,738]

3 hours ago, Snake Diggity said:

Biden’s best strategy: Call out the lies (just say “you’re a liar” or “that was a lie”) and quickly move on.  Pound the botched COVID response into the ground.  As often as possible, bring up bone spurs, Russian bounties, “Losers” and “Suckers”, marital infidelity, taxes, and bankruptcy.  It is totally ok to avoid talking policy; this election is not about policy.

That's a lie is too soft and indirect.

Call him out directly. Respond to every Trump rant with  "YOU'RE lying again", then move on.

[DanTheHorn 4,893]

3 hours ago, tx 3 putt said:

Trump is going to open up with Hunter Biden, no matter the question. He’ll then threaten the Biden’s with an investigation and prison !!!!!

 

Hunter no way that is going high for Trump. He will open up with Beau Biden being a joke of an attorney general and being protected by his father and not seeing any real combat in Iraq. May even hint that Joe's wife was a bad driver. Trump could go that low and not lose a single one of his dumb ass voters they might even enjoy it.

Edited September 29, 2020 by DanTheHorn

[ousuxndallas 65]

Biden team won't allow testing of his earpiece. His handlers will be feeding him lines when he starts to stammer.

C'mon, man!

[Rougarou 594]

I don't understand. Is there a rule or is it wrong to have an ear piece?