After reading some headlines, I decided to watch the #Debate2020 myself and draw my own conclusions. As a political science graduate, I know a little something about media headlines, partisanship & ownership.
So here's a thread with my personal analysis/takeaways 🧵
1/ It was easy for me to observe the strategies of both candidates.
Trump's plan was to make Biden look old, weak, senile, out of touch, incompetent after 47 years in office, corrupted, involved with Russia & China through his son Hunter, and a mere puppet of the radical left.
2/ Biden's strategy was to look into the camera and address the viewers as often as he can. He appealed to emotions, described mundane situations that the everyday American had faced & essentially made it look like he relies on the judgment of viewers more than on his debating.
3/ The biggest communication divide was that Biden seemed unwilling to engage in debate during the first part and played the role of the decent man who's too good to descend to Trump's level and wrestle him in mud.
Make no mistake, the debate was dirty on both sides.
4/ Trump had a few great comebacks and seems to know his voters really well. He refused to call out "white supremacists" (the moderator's words), referred to them as "proud boys" instead, and told them to be nice in a way that's more playful and ironic than serious.
5/ Biden did step up his game towards the end, but he can't beat Trump at his own game. He did make the more decent points and appealed to bipartisan unity, but to me it seemed more like demagoguery than genuine intention to work with his enemies.
6/ People on both sides seem to attack & criticize moderator Chris Wallace. I think he did a great job handling the situation & he made both candidates reveal important details about their past actions.
Was he a bit biased in favor of Biden? Yes, but he did something remarkable:
7/ See, in the first 10 minutes Biden said that he "is the Democrat party". So Chris Wallace asked him why he didn't call the Democrat governor of Oregon & the mayor of Portland to ask them to allow the national guard to put an end to the violent protests.
8/ Biden didn't have a clear answer for this, which only showed that his campaign finds the situation convenient during the elections.
Also, Chris Wallace has made Biden verbally denounce the Green New Deal. This is a huge deal (pun intended), as it reveals Biden's true views.
9/ Wallace was equally hard on Donald Trump by asking him direct questions about his tax records, about his plans to counter Covid, and about his willingness to accept defeat and avoid rallying his supporters if he loses (a major issue, given the existing tensions).
10/ If anything, this debate has proved that Trump and Biden are two sides of the same coin.
Trump lied about his tax records, Biden lied about the magnitude of his green policies. Trump tried to cover up his incompetence in dealing with Covid, Biden tried to cover up swine flu
11/ Children of both candidates seem to have done business with countries that aren't in great diplomatic relations with the USA (Russia & China).
So in the end, the joke's on the American people who believe that this two-party elected oligarchy defends their best interests.
12/ I don't think that the Democrats have picked their candidate well at all. If they wanted to defeat Trump, they needed someone younger, more energetic & less tainted with past deeds & statements.
Trump went as far as quoting a Biden speech from 1994.
13/ What Trump has accomplished was to pull the curtain and allow everyone to see what a joke politics really is. You get this old-school, polite and kind candidate like Biden and then you put him on stage with Trump.
After an hour, he will look like a hypocritical demagogue.
14/ But in the end, thanks to the design of the federal government, people will only vote for the candidate which best represents their social and financial interests.
America's strength will always be the private sector & its ability to nurture innovation in spite of politics.
15/ Before this debate, I used to roll my eyes whenever somebody would mention a new American "civil war". But after seeing how tribal the last 30 minutes have been and how unwilling each side is in acknowledging defeat, I'm afraid we'll witness a lot of violence in November.
16/ So if you have American friends, reach out to them and remind them that in their federal government it doesn't really matter who's president.
Some taxes may change, the budget will get adjusted, but they're still free people who possess the freedom to pursue their dreams.
17/ Will we ever get back to "we can agree to disagree and move on with our lives"? I sure hope so, because this culture is terrible for everyone involved.
Nobody's stupid for pursuing their best interest through voting and political support. Let's just accept our differences.
Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.
A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.