Seems pretty easy on Joe Biden in all the pieces I've seen him do with Biden or someone who's part of the Biden campaign. I don't really dislike the guy, but frankly he's always struck me as Fox's token liberal. I thought he handled the debate pretty well last night all things considered, but the questions seemed to be more geared with the intention of setting Trump up to be deliberately on the defensive. For the most part, Trump had to go out of his way to be able to talk about something that would be a beneficial talking point for him. All-in-all I don't mind, but let's be real, the debates held by CNN and whomever else is hosting one are absolutely going to be incredibly biased.
Mike: hmm......... I'm less familiar with the political leanings of the moderator and I'm less concerned about CNN'S supposed "fake-news" bias - but do you really believe that a politician of any sort is constrained in his/her responses in these debates by the the content of the questions posed?
I'm aware that lots of Republican voters view Mr Trump as not being a typical politician and in some ways they are correct - but is it reasonable to assume that Trump won't use exactly the same political survival techniques as all others before him in these debates?
Yes, in a ideal world it would be great if politicians honestly answered the actual content of the moderator's question - but , neither candidate in the debate did this (as evidenced by the number of times that the moderator had to intervene to remind the candidates of the question).
Usually, politicians use these questions as a vague hook to connect their responses to some aspect of their party's policy - it's called "staying on message" down here. But even this dynamic wasn't obvious in the debate (not to me- at least). The entire event just appeared to be a blood sport in which there could only be one clear observation; Biden allowed himself to be driven by Trump's harangue and he was entirely unable to counter Trump's bullying style!
, of course - this is probably the only clear take-out from the debate; Biden's weakness against Trump's overbearing dominance (and, no - overbearing dominance is NOT a "strength")!!
Don
PS: How many times did Biden use the phrase "here's the deal" - and why (is he attempting to counter Trump's reputation as a deal maker)?