Initial thoughts on last night’s debate:
-It was maybe the most informational presidential or vice presidential debate I have ever seen. Whether you agreed or disagreed with what Walz and Vance said, a ton of actual information – some factual, some not – was discussed. Very much unlike the mega-insult-a-thons these things usually descend into – especially if Donald Trump is one of the participants.
-The moderators were clearly biased in favor of Walz. No surprise, since mainstream media venues have, for as long as I can remember, heavily favored Democrats.
The classic example was when co-host Margaret Brennan “fact-checked” Republican nominee J. D. Vance on the status of Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio.
Vance, understandably annoyed since he was told no moderator fact-checking was to be done, started to respond and explain why what he said was accurate. He was almost immediately cut off – in other words, we fact check even though we said we wouldn’t, we declare what you said false, and you have no way to rebut.
Vance kept talking even though he was told not to, explaining that the “legal” status was a Biden/Harris created aberration, not a real one…before they cut off his microphone.
This – along with the selective use of which questions were and were not asked (Walz was spared having to explain most of his lies, his love affair with Communist China and his equation of socialism with neighborleness) demonstrated to anyone willing to face facts that, moderator-wise, this was anything but a fair fight.
-Walz often came across as apprehensive and angry. Given that he is old enough to be Vance’s father (a 20 year difference) and looks it, he had a “get off my lawn, harumph” look that wasn’t lost on me…and, I suspect wasn’t lost on others as well.
-By contrast, Vance – who was billed by Democrats, with considerable seconding of the motion by many of their media acolytes, as being some kind of a hillbilly redneck loudmouth – came across as poised, articulate and loaded with relevant information on the topics being discussed. Simply stated, he blew that Democrat/media-created assessment to smithereens. To me, the image realignment this provided to viewers made Vance the winner last night.
There will be more to come about this debate, and what effect, if any, it has on the election.
Stay tuned.
