REPORTING ON THE BIDEN/TRUMP DEBATE

By Edwin Cooney

As all of you who read these musings are aware, I'm supporting President Biden's bid for re-election. Despite his less than stellar performance last Thursday, I'm still with him.

However, former President Trump won the debate on pure performance.

As I wrote some two weeks ago, the American public isn't interested in explanations. It demands dramatic solutions.

If Donald Trump ignored, as he did, questions about climate change or the realistic state of Social Security, he succeeded in coloring all his answers with worries all citizens share about our national security.

President Biden's voice was weak and his articulation was almost nonexistent. Still, throughout his presentation he demonstrated a full and comprehensive  knowledge of governance during this time of intermingling effects of programs and policies concerning both domestic and foreign affairs. No program or policy is so sound that its intention or goal is a guaranteed plus.

Sooner than you can imagine, someone will tell us how many times these two presidents called each other a liar.

Mr. Trump wants Americans to believe that immigrants for the most part are all criminals and perverts. President Biden clearly views most immigrants as the victims of ruthless and tyrannical Central American governments. Conservatives have used the average citizen's fear of criminals and radicals invading the United States since 9/11.

On the subject of Roe v. Wade, the irony is that both men seem sincere in their advocacies. President Biden would support the return of Row v. Wade, a libertarian position. Mr. Trump, on the other hand, wants state governments rather than individuals to decide the fates of mothers and children.

Mr. Trump insists that had he remained president, Vladimir Putin would never have dared to invade Ukraine. Mr. Trump also insists that Iran would never have been sufficiently powerful enough to assist Hamas' October 7th 2023 invasion of Israel. President Biden's genuine sympathy for individual Palestinians compels him to do what he can to make Israel demonstrate to non Hamas Palestinians the humanistic treatment to which they're entitled.

However, in my opinion, President Biden faces two dangers as the result of his poor performance last Thursday.

The first danger is the political momentum former President Trump gains.

The second danger is the resulting unrest within the Democratic Party as it plans for the convention in August. Every convention has rules governing the nominating process. Remember back in 1980 when forces behind Senator Edward Kennedy sought to nullify President Carter's numerical and situational advantage for the nomination by altering existing rules? President Carter prevailed and so did Ronald Reagan that November 4th, 1980.

American voters have always wondered about how genuine the hostility really was between the presidential candidates. After all, American politics is  competitive by nature. Did Kennedy hate Nixon? How is it that Ford and Carter became friends during the Reagan Administration? George H. W. Bush spent much of the fall of 1992 calling Bill Clinton a "bozo." Soon after that election, Bill and George became presidential “bozos” together. Remember John McCain telling a woman during the 2008 campaign that Barack Obama wasn't an “Arab sympathizer,” but that he was really a very nice man. Of course, Obama and Mitt Romney didn't really hate each other.

Sadly, the enmity between Biden and Trump is deeper than Andrew Jackson's was toward John Quincy Adams in 1828 or between FDR and Herbert Hoover in 1932. As understandable as that enmity may be, its real danger may be how it affects the future of the American Body Politic!

Sadly and regrettably, I'm compelled to declare former President Donald J. Trump the winner of last Thursday's not so "presidential" debate. However, regardless of current Republican hopeful expectations or Democratic fears or trepidations, the election is 5 months and 5 days away — more than time enough for that "October surprise" to develop!

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
EDWIN COONEY