Quotes of the Day -- Presidential Debate Edition

After last evening's debacle of a debate, it seemed a good time to maybe quote some evaluations of it. Mind you, too, most of these are from conservative sources, too.

"I can’t say this any more clearly: Our democracy is in terrible danger....And that is why the only choice in this election is Joe Biden. The Democrats are not blameless when it comes to playing politics, but there is no equivalence to the Republicans. The Democratic Party sorted through all the choices, and, led by older Black men and women in South Carolina, rejected the Democratic socialist candidate and said they wanted a moderate unifier named Joe Biden.

The Republicans — who in the past voted for Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, sane conservatives who could be counted upon to uphold the common good — have done no such equivalent thing. They have fallen in line lock step behind a man who is the most dishonest, dangerous, meanspirited, divisive and corrupt person to ever occupy the Oval Office. And they know it. Four more years of Trump’s divide and rule will destroy our institutions and rip the country apart."  

--Thomas Frieman

After that fiasco, Biden should refuse to debate Trump again. The president was petulant and puerile, so what is the point? I wasn’t in the crowd of people who believed Joe Biden shouldn’t deign to debate President Trump, but put me in the crowd that believes he shouldn’t debate him again. Not after Tuesday night’s horror show: a disgrace to the format, an insult to the country, a nearly pointless 90 minutes. And, I should add, a degradation of the presidency itself, which Trump had degraded so thoroughly already.

--Frank Bruni, The New York Times

This debate was disgraceful and painful to watch; everyone knows the reason was Trump. The psychological effect of this debate will be fairly profound on the majority of Americans, which is, “I can’t bear four more years of this.” Trump is the most intensely unlikable candidate in American history, and that matters.

--Peter Wehner

Chris Wallace..."utterly failed at the job assigned to him, which was to make the president behave like a normal human for 90 minutes."

--Alyssa Rosenberg

"For all his heckling, shouting and nonsense talk, Trump made one thing perfectly clear: He’s getting ready to take his chaos and mayhem from the debate stage and use it to try to disrupt the election itself."

---Dana Milbank

"When faced with questions about his actual record and policy, Trump threw up word salads, switched topics, made scurrilous accusations and convinced any rational viewer he is in over his head. He mostly interrupted, repeatedly and falsely accusing Biden of harboring positions that his more progressive opponents in the Democratic primaries held. Trump was a walking Twitter feed — no facts, all bluster and all insults. Unfortunately, moderator Chris Wallace was never able to control Trump, so the debate devolved into constant interruption."

Chris Wallace "...should have halted the debate or cut Trump’s microphone until he agreed to abide by the rules. Trump’s strategy was to be so obnoxious and aggressive that he could avoid answering questions and defending his record. Trump’s job was to win over voters. It’s hard to believe anyone not already part of his cult would be persuaded to support a rude, blustering know-nothing."

--Jennifer Riubin

Let's do this, folks.  Vote. And vote blue.

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BYEDON