WHEN THE NIGHT HAS COME, AND THE LAND IS DARK

I walked my dog yesterday evening instead of watching the “debate.”  Apparently I made the right decision.  Every account I’ve seen described the event as excruciating.  (The “debate, not the dog walk.)  Everyday life in Donald Trump’s America supplies all the excruciation I can stand.  I don’t need to inject more of it.

It’s a truism by now that Donald Trump doesn’t debate – he performs.  We saw a version of his performance against Joe Biden four years ago, when Trump was persistently rude to Hillary Clinton.  He got away with it then, and he doubled down on the tactic last night.  Apparently he thought he could break Biden with insults and interruptions.  Trump may have broken Chris Wallace, but Biden did just fine under the circumstances. 

Speaking of Chris Wallace, he may have been overconfident about his ability to persuade Trump to behave like a relatively normal presidential candidate.  Moderators ought to insist on having a way to mute a candidate who won’t stop talking.  It would be amusing to see Trump’s reaction to being silenced.  The moderator might need a shock collar as well as a mute switch.

The geniuses behind the Trump campaign spent all summer painting themselves into a corner, insisting that Joe Biden was sinking into dementia, unable to function normally.  Guys, you’re supposed to lower expectations for your guy, not for your opponent.  As a result, Team Trump set the bar so low for “Sleepy Joe” that all he had to do was stay awake and speak in complete sentences.  He did that.    

Trump, on the other hand, kept trying to knock Biden off balance by interrupting and shouting insults.  Maybe their internal polling suggested that suburban housewives and undecided voters really love politicians who are rude and vulgar.  Still, the evening wasn’t a total waste.  At least Trump locked down the coveted Proud Boys demographic.