“You can always come back, but you can’t come back all the way.” – Bob Dylan
On Tuesday, September 29th, presidential candidate Joe Biden and President Donald Trump participated in the first of three debates, held at Case Western Reserve University. Prior to watching this debate, I had planned to write this piece about what had been discussed, the solutions each candidate had proposed and the issues that failed to be addressed. But, minutes into the debate, I quickly realized this would not be possible.
It’s hard to even call what occurred Tuesday night a debate. At times, I genuinely felt like I was watching my siblings and I fight. Like my siblings and I tend to do, Trump and Biden fell victim to using insults instead of stating actual ideas. What’s worse is that these insults fell into two categories: extremely immature or terribly disrespectful. Biden referred to President Trump as the “worst president America’s ever had,” a “clown,” and “Putin’s puppy.” In response, Trump fell to more personal jabs. Trump accused Biden of graduating “lowest in his class” and even stooped low enough to bring up Biden’s son, Hunter, a recovering cocaine addict.
President Trump and Biden are very, very different people. And while the debate was confusing and overwhelmingly ineffective, it did reveal what both candidates will do when met with immaturity. Sadly, it showed that both Biden and Trump will choose to counter with even more childish behavior.
Throughout the debate, Biden commonly responded to Trump’s attacks by saying “give me a break.” For me, this was troubling to hear. In less than two months, one of these men will be the leader of this country. Neither of them can be given the “break” Biden asked for so many times. I think both candidates forgot the power they hold and the responsibility they have to each American citizen and got distracted by the competitiveness they felt towards their counterpart. Both fell victim to the desire to top the other’s insults instead of representing the American people. Hopefully, in the fallout of this debate, both candidates will reflect on the immaturity they displayed and remember who they are supposed to be representing: the American people and their interests.
Bringing down the competition will not fix the concerning state our country is in. Hopefully, on October 7th when vice presidential candidates Mike Pence and Kamala Harris debate, their running mates will be redeemed.
After watching this debate, I know I will not remember the policy discussion. I don’t even think I would consider what occurred Tuesday night a debate in any meaningful sense. Instead, I see it as an incomprehensible disaster that displayed the fallout of two temperamental people on international television.
As a political science major, I was looking forward to this debate. I love politics and more importantly, love the presidential debates because of the political competition they traditionally inspire. On Tuesday night, I was very embarrassed by both candidates. Both men could have done better. The future leader of our country is better than this. Now more than ever, I sincerely hope they will do better. Because last night, neither Trump nor Biden lost. The loser was us, the American people.
