Biden-Trump Town Hall Observations

— I watched ABC till its commercial break; then switched to NBC till its commercial break — back and forth

I watched both town halls simultaneously, switching after each network’s commercial break, I made some comments on Facebook as I followed each Question/Answer presentation. Below are my Facebook observations.

I’m watching both town halls at once. I watched ABC’s Biden town hall first, until the commercial break. Biden did pretty well. At the break, I switched to NBC’s Trump town hall. Not more than a minute into his first answer I had to pause to write this. He was asked when was his last negative test before testing positive. He didn’t answer, and went on about being tested a lot. Then he was asked directly if he was tested during the day of the debate — a Cleveland Clinic requirement — and he answered he didn’t know.

On the Scorecard, Trump is a liar a minute into his first response. And he’s a dangerous liar because his refusal seems to indicate he was actually positive for Covid during his debate with Biden.

I will watch the Trump portion until NBC’s commercial break and then I’ll switch back to ABC. This is how I will watch both debates at once.

ABC’s Final Segment:

“Overall, Biden did very well. He was coherent, respectable and engaging to others. The biggest down point was his response to a foreign policy question. It reminded me of one of several reasons why I’m not a Joe Biden fan. However, were I to compare him to another president, he came off looking a lot more like Jimmy Carter. In today’s political world having a Carter-type over a Trump-type would be a gift to every American.

“Please note I’m not prepared to give Biden a honeymoon if he is elected. I will oppose him with every bit of Standing Rock vigor I can muster. I will challenge that he needs be more than looking like Jimmy Carter in a debate, that he desperately needs to engage America much like the FDR-Wallace ticket did on behalf of America’s working people and poor folk. Progressives like myself will have a very difficult job changing Biden’s perspective on foreign policy because right now, as it is, he’s dangerous not only to America’s best interests but to the interests of other nations in the world.

“Come what may. Who won the debate? ABC on presenting a wider range of content, and Biden on trustworthiness and putting another feather in his cap for coherency.

“However, ABC’s commercials were overwhelming and reminded me why I haven’t watched regular television in more than a half a dozen years.”

NBC’s Final Segment:

“NBC concluded soft and easy on Trump after a rather hard opening. It almost seemed like Trump’s whole objective in doing the town hall was to have the black woman sitting behind him constantly nodding yes to everything he said. Everything Trump said, however, despite the woman behind him nodding, was spoken in a slither. Disappointingly, nothing on foreign policy, nothing on climate change and nothing on the drug war.

“Conclusion? As someone who studies a lot about politics and the issues, watching this was a waste of time.

“On the bright side, NBC seemed to have fewer commercials than did ABC.”

ABC to Commerical Break:

“Biden got asked about fracking. He gave a comprehensive answer and touched on matters that simply are not in the Trump brain. He gave a coherent description of his plan for a transition to clean energy. I wish he would have wholeheartedly backed The Green New Deal, but he came close. Again, Biden stuck to what he would do, not how horrible Trump is. T’was a short segment.”

NBC to Commercial Break:

“Trump claimed NYT, when it released his taxes, had misinformation but then he began responding to specifics of what the NYT claimed. Trump has an audit problem where the IRS claimed he falsely received around 72 million and he should pay it back. Trump refuses. The question becomes, and should have been asked: If your audit problem involves only one year, why can’t you release the other years that are not under audit? He’ll never answer that. Amazingly, he tried to pass off the $750 he did pay in taxes as though it were a filing fee. Again, Trump is a con man!

“NBC fact checkers will certainly be more hard-pressed than will be the ABC fact checkers.”

ABC to Commercial Break:

“Biden still seeming fluid and expanding his answers. He could be a bit more direct to the questions, but he’s done nothing wild so far. I also credit him with dealing with the details of the questions and not turning his answers into attacks on Trump. Thus, far, Biden has barely mentioned Trump. This is an attribute.”

NBC to Commercial Break:

“Trump maintained complete evasiveness, continually raising a straw argument so he argues the straw argument rather than the question. He reminds me of a crack addict I once knew who was a mason. The addict was famous for taking a down payment and then not meeting the time limit terms for performing the work. He’d always have an excuse and made things up out of thin air to explain away his inability to meet the terms of the contract by performing the work in a timely manner. A nice guy who wanted to do well but couldn’t do well because he was always living in an ulterior motivation. The crack addict mason inherently became a con man. Trump also is a con man but without the crack. Trump seems more concerned with posturing politics and currying insider profiteering.”

My Opening Statement on Facebook About The Town Halls:

“I’m watching both town halls at once. I watched ABC’s Biden town hall first, until the commercial break. Biden did pretty well.

At the break, I switched to NBC’s Trump town hall. Not more than a minute into his first answer I had to pause to write this. He was asked when was his last negative test before testing positive. He didn’t answer, and went on about being tested a lot. Then he was asked directly if he was tested during the day of the debate — a Cleveland Clinic requirement — and he answered he didn’t know.

“On the Scorecard, Trump is a liar a minute into his first response. And he’s a dangerous liar because his refusal seems to indicate he was actually positive for Covid during his debate with Biden.

“I will watch the Trump portion until NBC’s commercial break and then I’ll switch back to ABC, back and forth.”