The debate was a disaster. If his words had been heard, it should have ended Trump’s candidacy, but Biden’s non-verbal confusion and forgetfulness overshadowed Trump’s Mein Drumpf moments.
The question that remains unanswered is if it was a one-off event for Biden or if he regularly is that incoherent. (We know Trump is that much of an incoherent, hateful, liar because he proves it every time he opens his mouth.) However, if Biden is regularly that unable to understand, remember or articulate basic concepts, he is not fit to serve four more years as President....he’s simply Ronald Reagan (1984-1988) with a bluer suit.
PoliticalWire this morning passes on a number of troubling possibilities: Thoughts on the Debate. Was this debacle the result of a bunker mentality? More optimistically: Biden Hasn’t Lost Ground Yet.
So here’s a possible idea:
There is a transcript of the debate that CNN has produced. We’d probably have to do our own transcription in order to avoid copyright infringement (lawyers?), but an AI transcription service could start that process very cheaply.
It would then be possible as a group DKos effort to go through the entire debate and make sure every word is exactly what and how it was spoken (or misspoken). Then we fact check every single concept put forward by both candidates...three or four hard references for every assertion. No mercy. No thumb on the scale for Biden. No thumb on the scale for Trump. Then produce a transcript that could be electronically offered as a Kindle, Nook or Google Play ebook—or it could be blasted to millions of interested (and disinterested) voters. Use any profits to help DKos—but most importantly:
separate the debate from the emotional horror of watching it.
Let people decide. Let news organizations decide. Let people digest just how crazy and dangerous Trump’s lies and ideas were. Let them see exactly what Biden did and did not say., and how it might help or hurt the U.S. —and point out where the pauses and mental missteps were for both Biden and Trump.
We need closure, not avoidance, NOW...and processing what actually transpired in a more neutral way is one way to rapidly work toward that clarity.
Here is the link to CNN’s transcript.
Here is the replay of the debate.