On last night’s nightmarish presidential debate

So, let’s start with the obvious: last night’s presidential debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, hosted by CNN, was EXTREMELY painful to watch! So painful, in fact, that I would be eternally grateful if the two campaigns agreed to cancel the remaining debates post haste!

But alas, no such announcement will come because in the modern era, presidential debates are not so much about the rhetorical arts displaying which candidate can best express his or her perspectives on any number of critical domestic and foreign matters, but are glorified fundraisers—a telethon if you will—where the robo text messages and emails demanding campaign contributions ping on our cell phones ad nauseam while we watch the show on the debate stage in hopes of determining which candidate looks presidential.

And let’s be clear—looking the part has been a critically crucial part of the debate process ever since then Senator John F. Kennedy (D-Mass) squared off against then Vice President (and Republican nominee) Richard Nixon in the first nationally televised debate on September 26, 1960. 

My readers who watched the Kennedy-Nixon debate live will be able to confirm what those of us who studied that first televised debate in our American history classes were taught, which is that Kennedy “won” that debate not so much on the substance of his politics—but because he looked younger and in far better shape than Nixon, despite their being roughly the same age!

That fall, Nixon was suffering from exhaustion related illnesses on the campaign trail and in the week prior to the debate, reportedly had lost 15 pounds. To make matters worse, he skipped a pre-production meeting with CBS News where everything from wardrobe to make up and posturing were discussed—while Kennedy sat through the same session at rapt attention. 

The result? Nixon, wearing a light colored suit that made him blend into the black and white background like a ghost, showed up to the studio unshaven—and defiantly refused to allow the CBS makeup artists to cover up his five-o-clock shadow. On the contrary, Kennedy wore a dark suit and allowed the make up techs to accent the tan that he was sporting from the still warm early Fall weather!

Even worse, Nixon sweated profusely under the TV lights the entire hour long session, while Kennedy seemed as cool as a cucumber under the same glare; over 70 million Americans watched that debate and again, most historians believe that Kennedy’s razor thin victory that November was due, in part, to how he looked and sounded during that very first debate (see chart below). 

Last night, President Joe Biden looks ranged from dazed and confused—to downright sleepy—and his hoarse/congested sounding voice made it difficult to hear his points and counterpoints at times, even when it was clear that he had a grasp on certain topics. On others, crucial matters that Biden would have hit across the fence four years ago like abortion rights, or the fastball down the middle of the plate that Trump hurled when he mentioned “Black Jobs”—with Biden not even taking a swing—reminded me of Frank Sinatra’s “losing my timing this late in my career” from his hit single, Send in the Clowns.

Honestly, I found myself listening to the debate but wondering why Vice President Kamala Harris, California Governor Gavin Newsome, or Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer were not on that stage as the Democratic nominee? I also wondered if between now and the Chicago convention in August, whether there will be a call for a change among Democratic Party leaders? 

I won’t hold my breath…

And I also won’t hold my breath that any future debates will yield any better results on camera for Biden or Trump, two elderly men who have both lost steps since they last squared off in 2020; I cringed when they devolved into an argument about their prowess on the golf course—as if any of us actually give a damn about such trivialities?

Indeed, last night, the once and would be President Trump’s “Benito Mussolini” looking frowns, his still pervasive penchant for beginning each sentence with “I,” “me,” and “my,” while boasting that everything he has ever done is the “best ever;” his refusals to admit that he actively worked to usurp democracy on January 6, 2021 and that his appeasement of Vladimir Putin (and threats to withdraw from NATO) place the specter of global nuclear war front and center, make him wholly unpalatable as a viable presidential option from my point of vantage!

But this is where we are, America, and last night’s debate did little to change my perspective on which issues are important to me—and which candidate has the best chance to address inflation and corporate greed, systemic racism, women’s rights, and global flashpoints in Ukraine and Gaza. Warts and all, that ticket remains Biden-Harris, although I am more and more convinced that a second term will surely be led at some point by Madame Vice President Harris—because Mr. Biden is in noticeable physical decline, and unlikely to get any better. 

What say you? Feel free to drop a comment below or shoot me an email and give me your thoughts about last night’s debate!

Chuck Hobbs is a freelance journalist who won the 2010 Florida Bar Media Award and has been twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary.