Trump had a terrible debate performance.  He lied throughout the entire debate.  The CNN fact checker counted 30 instances where he lied to the American people.  Biden sometimes misspoke, but in his case it was usually a case of misstating statistics.  On the other hand Trump lied about truly important matters like blaming Nancy Pelosi for the January 6 riots, totally embellishing his records as president, and taking credit for Biden‘s accomplishments.  He blatantly avoided answering  whether he would again deny the results of the election if he loses.  He also showed his true character with his nastiness throughout the debate.

Biden’s made some good points and showed that he still had the memory to recall a multitude of facts.  On the other hand, Trump demonstrated that he was totally unprepared to address a number of  critical issues.  Rather than show his ignorance in those areas he constantly diverted the conversation to immigration or one of his other prepared talking points.

However, Biden‘s primary reason for challenging Trump to this debate was to reassure the voters that he is still physically and mentally capable of effectively leading this country and the rest of the free world for the next four years.  Up to now his advanced age, and sometimes his appearance and demeanor, have caused too many voters to have concerns that he wasn’t up for the challenge.  This is primarily why he has been trailing in the polls nationally and in every swing state.  Like his State of the Union address, his objective was for the debate to dispel any concerns about his age once and for all.  Unfortunately, his performance did the exact opposite, verifying doubts in the minds of many undecided voters.

I am a great admirer of President Biden and the job he has done.  Consequently I have contributed hundreds of dollars to his campaign.  However, we can’t afford to sugarcoat this.  The President appeared feeble, his voice was subdued, and at times he seemed incoherent and lost his train of thought.  Yes, he had cold, but that excuse won’t fly.  Given all of Trump’s lying, his inability to address important issues, and his failure to assure the the American public that he will not again contest the results of his election if he loses, Trump was very vulnerable if Biden had been on his game.  However, he wasn’t and as a result 67% of the respondents in a CNN poll of debate thought Trump won the debate only because he looked better in comparison.  I cannot think of one prominent Democrat who would not have not done a better job than Joe did in responding to Trump and calling out his lies.

This isn’t just my opinion. Trusted commentators such as Rachel Maddow, Nicolle Wallace, Joy Reid, Joe Scarborough on MSNBC and Van Jones, Bakari Sellers, and David Axelrod on CNN were brutally honest in their assessment of the President’s performance.  These are people with enormous respect, even love for Joe Biden, but they could not deny what they saw and heard.  They were also getting texts during the debate from many Democratic office holders who were in a state of panic.  I also heard three presidential historians essentially say that Biden’s was the worst performance in a presidential debate in recent memory.  The concerns weren’t limited to this country.  Throughout democratic western countries around the world there is a huge concern that Trump is now destined to win a second term.

Supposedly over 51 million Americans watched the debate and most of the rest of our population will soon learn one way or another of the President’s problems on the debate stage.  This is not a setback that can eventually swept under the rug.  In addition, you can forget about the possibility that Biden can redeem himself in a September debate.  While I am not sure that he would do any better if given the chance, if Trump has any political sense he will refuse to participate in another debate while he is a head

Perhaps former Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill said it best on MSNBC:  “Joe Biden had one thing he had to do tonight and he didn’t do it.  He had one thing he had to accomplish, and that was reassure America that he was up to the job at his age, and he failed at that tonight.  I’m not the only one whose heart is breaking right now.  There’s a lot of people who watched this tonight and felt terribly for Joe Biden. And you know, you have to ask, how did we get here?”

There is a terrible political price to pay when voters already have serious concerns about a candidate’s ability to do the job and then he dramatically validates those concerns.  It doesn’t matter that we will all remain steadfast Biden voters.  (I would voter for Joe Biden in coffin to try to avoid a Trump second term.)  But we can’t control the choices of voters in swing states.  Unless Joe can turn around what are now wide spread perceptions of his inadequacies fairly quickly, Donald Trump will be the next President of the United States.  

Trump’s performance in that debate provides ample evidence why he should never again gain control of the levers of power.  And more importantly we are also well aware of the disasters we face if Trump again becomes the primary resident in White House – loss of our democracy, a 6-3 conservative majority for generations, worse inflation, loss of decent health care for many, additional loss of reproductive rights, weaponization of the Justice Department, estrangement from allies around world, the loss of Ukraine and the possibility of a world war.  Even Social Security is on the line and list doesn’t end there.  Given the recent Supreme Court decision heaven knows what crimes Trump might commit while claiming that they were “official actions”.

For all of these reasons we must do everything in our power to insure that Trump does not win, even if we must make extremely difficult choices.  I will be watching the polls, especially those in swing states, to understand how much, if any, the President’s debate performance has decreased his chances of defeating Trump.  Democratic insiders are conducting their own private polls to determine the effects on down ballot races.  Perhaps the damage will not will not be as great as many fear when it comes to the opinions of those voters who will decide who will be our  next president and which party will control the Senate and the House of Representative. 

However, if the damage is as bad as I fear, and reports that the debate was not a one off for the President continue to appear in legitimate press, I have very little confidence that the President can do what is necessary to recover sufficiently to prevent Trump from again winning the White House.  That must be avoided at all costs.  It pains me greatly to say this, but it become obvious that President Biden needs to step aside and allow a younger and more able Democrat to be nominated in the Democratic convention in order top prevent Trump from again assuming power, I will support that move 100%.

Cajun (Rick Guilbeau)