Last post on the presidential debate*

*It was neither presidential or a debate.

Trump aides and allies saw Tuesday night’s event, a 90-minute schoolyard brawl featuring incessant interruptions from the incumbent Republican and pleas from his Democratic opponent to quit the “yapping,” as an avoidable tragedy in the president’s quest for reelection.

  Politico

Oh, it was a tragedy, but it wasn't avoidable unless they didn't have a debate at all, because Trump, as Joe Biden said several times during the "debate" is incapable of acting otherwise.

And he thinks he "won", so he'll be sure to do more of the same.

Overcome with scorn for Biden, Trump jabbed and jeered his way through the night without ever giving his opponent a chance to self-implode. The strategy confounded supporters who had giddily approached the first debate thinking it would be a prime opportunity for voters to see the 77-year-old Democratic presidential nominee stumble through answers with rambling responses and cringe-worthy gaffes.

[...]

“It was really frustrating to watch,” said Dallas investor Doug Deason, a GOP megadonor and Trump supporter. “He’s the president of the United States. He should have not let it get out of hand like it did and instead he led it.”

[...]

“The whole thing was just so cringeworthy,” he said. “They’re blaming Biden, but they’re not happy with Trump. The president should have sat back and let Biden just talk himself into circles, but instead he kept interrupting.”

“He saved Biden’s day by doing that,” Deason added. “It was a huge misstep.”

That's a misplaced belief. They were given two minutes to say their piece, and on the rare occasions Joe got to do his full two minutes, he didn't "talk himself into circles." He did very well, actually.

Barring a course-correction in the second debate, they said the president could permanently jeopardize his campaign’s effort to win over undecided voters and reverse his eroding support with women.

That's not going to happen no matter what. This thing is decided.

The cast of “Fox & Friends,” a Fox News morning show Trump watches religiously, on Wednesday morning aired a rare segment in which several conservatives close to the Trump campaign also grumbled about the president’s debate performance.

“The president interrupted way too much. Mr. President, please don’t do that in the next debate,” said former Trump campaign adviser Stephen Moore.

[...]

While former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who has spent the past few weeks in debate preparation with Trump, admitted he was “too hot” on the debate stage, the president himself seemed pleased with his performance.

[...]

“Try getting a new Anchor and a smarter Democrat candidate!” Trump tweeted in response to a statement from the Commission on Presidential Debates promising to add new “tools to maintain order” in the remaining verbal contests.

[...]

[One] adviser said Trump’s attempts to corner Biden only further imperiled his unstable campaign.

Another person involved with the president’s campaign said they couldn’t blame anyone who turned the TV off halfway through the debate: “The few independents that we need, I imagine some of them just flipped the channel after the first hour.”

That is so rich. Do they ever watch Trump speak?

Funny you should mention that.

Frank Luntz, the well-known focus group leader and long time conservative wordsmith known for spinning many GOP policies in language that “sell “to the public better[, ...]has long held post-debate focus groups on Fox News, but last night he hosted a Zoom-based focus group for the Los Angeles Times.

[...]

Luntz asked 16 undecided voters from swing states to sum upTrump and Biden’s debate performances in one word or phrase, and, well, the results are stunning. To wit:

Asked to describe Trump in one word or phrase, the responses were: “horrid,” “chaotic,” “unpolished,” “crackhead,” “ehh,” “puzzling,” “un-American,” “unhinged,” “an ass, but a confident ass,” “classic Trump,” “forceful,” “unhinged,” “bully,” “arrogant,” arrogant,” “typical.”

Then, asked to describe Biden, the responses were: “I was surprised at how well he did,” “better than expected,” “definitely more professional than Trump and I think he’s more a people person,” “competent,” “politician,” “showed restraint and compassion,” “politician,” “predictable,” “nice guy but lacking vision,” “coherent,” “leader,” “attentive and rehearsed,” “somewhat evasive,” “humanity and integrity,” “predictable,” “presidential.”

Later, Luntz tweeted that roughly a third of his undecided subjects were so turned off by the debate that they may not vote at all.

  Mediaite

And, let me just finish this off saying Trump, Melania, and Hope Hicks have tested positive for Covid-19. ALL those asshole Trump family and friends at the first debate should be quarantined. They should have been marched to the exit doors when they took off their masks at a venue that requires masks. Criminal negligence.