“I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it.”
- George Bernard Shaw
All he had to do was look presidential. All he had to do was not rise to Trump’s bait. All he had to do to respond to President Trump’s lies was to say, every time, “That is simply not true.” Then tell the truth.
Every time Trump interrupted him, all Biden had to do was stop speaking and give Trump a hard look or just a quizzical one. Or he could have said, in a genuinely polite and civil tone, “Excuse me, Mr. President, may I speak?”
All he had to do was to not stoop to Trump’s level. He had to look straight into the camera and behave politely and honorably, like a president should, like Donald Trump never has. But he didn’t.
Biden blew it. He wrestled the pig. Trump didn’t win the debate. Biden lost it.
He allowed himself to get caught up in a schoolroom quarrel with the class bully. And by stooping to Trump’s level, he looked the equal to Trump, perhaps even subordinate to Trump, who can beat anyone in a shouting match.
Trump didn’t need to beat Biden. All Trump had to do was to show that Biden was no better than him. If Biden’s no better than Trump, why vote for him? Why even go to the polls on Election Day? It’s all just lousy politics.
This is how Trump and the Russians beat Hillary Clinton, by throwing so much mud at her that many prospective voters wrongly reckoned they were equally despicable, and chose not to vote at all.
Who was coaching Joe Biden?
The bully president scored all kinds of points with undecided voters Tuesday when Joe Biden joined the scrum. Biden rolled his eyes, laughed at the president, even called the the president “a clown” and told him to “shut up.”
None of it looked presidential. He looked at least as bad as Trump. And tragically, he did not use his time on the podium to calmly offer ideas superior to Trump’s.
Trump, as dishonest, rude and abusive as he was, appeared self-assured, forceful, determined and aggressive. He didn’t hesitate or stammer. By the terms of television, the only gauge that matters, Trump, the master of all media, crushed Biden. For the sake of God and the future of our nation, someone get Biden a cup of coffee and a debate coach.
God help us before debates two and three.