Biden Is Done

The first presidential debate of the 2024 election season is now in the books. The result is undisputed and indelible. Trump won and Biden lost badly. It was so one-sided that if it were a boxing match, the referee would have called the fight and awarded Trump a technical knock-out.

That’s clear. The question is why. Each of the candidates went through the usual talking points. Trump talked about the dangers of the open border, the disaster of the War in Ukraine and the impact of Biden’s inflation. Biden talked about the dangers of Russia winning in Ukraine and moving to attack Poland and other NATO members. Biden talked about presidential scholars who rate Trump as the worst president in U.S. history, his student loan forgiveness and support for black colleges.

None of this matters. We know the respective views of the two candidates. We’ve heard about them thousands of times. We all have our opinions. That’s fine; that’s what democracy is all about. But the policies and views were the least relevant part of the debate.

The Contrast Is Stark

What was most relevant was the appearance and carriage of each candidate. Trump had his usual orange tan and red necktie tied too long. But he seemed fit, energetic and mentally sharp. He may be 78 years old, but aging is not a uniform process. Trump was Trump but gave no reason to believe he could not carry out the duties of the presidency for another four years. (He even mentioned the ‘green new scam’, a phrase I originally coined. Thank you, President Trump!).

Biden was a funereal zombie. It was easy to tell he was heavily medicated because the usual “slit look” in his eyes was gone (for one night) and his eyes were bugging out because of the medication he was pumped up with. He was over rehearsed after spending eight days with sixteen advisors in a Hollywood produced set in Camp David. The problem with rehearsing your lines and not being able to speak extemporaneously is that if you get one fact wrong or even slightly confused you go off track and can’t get back on.

Biden did that time and again. He mumbled, he slurred his words, he tailed off into nothing and lost his train of thought. He stared off into space with a vacant stare.  He looked weak and acted weak.

He also droned on about his pet lies. He referred to Belarus as a Russian target after Ukraine. In fact, Belarus is one of Russia’s closest allies and is helping Russia to fight the war in Ukraine. Biden said, “My son died in Iraq.” Not true. Beau Biden served in Iraq, but then returned home and later died of a form of cancer that had nothing to do with the war there. Biden resorted to name calling and used rote phrases like “malarky,” a cute Irish term of disparagement that most Americans have probably never heard from anyone other than Biden.

Trump had some zingers. He called Biden “the Manchurian Candidate” which is a succinct way to point out that Biden and his crime family are on the Communist Chinese payroll. Trump was nimble when he connected the open border crisis and flood of illegal aliens to diminished job prospects for blacks and Hispanics. The illegals are taking jobs that might otherwise be available for disadvantaged Americans. Both issues – immigration and jobs – are hot button issues and Trump’s ability to connect them and score two points at once showed quick thinking and command of the stage.

Watching Biden Said It All

Here’s the most important takeaway. It’s something you won’t hear elsewhere and which almost none of the commentators and talking heads understand. Television is a powerful medium with little understood effects on human cognition. Canadian philosopher and communications theorist Marshall McLuhan said “The medium is the message” over sixty years ago. What he meant was that content is almost irrelevant; what matters is the process by which humans comprehend what they’re seeing.

Mountains of research compiled over decades demonstrate that when people watch television, they barely listen to what’s being said. Instead they process what they are seeing. It’s a visual medium that McLuhan described as “cold” because it takes a lot of engagement to decipher what is being shown. Viewers don’t listen, they watch.

With that as the proper frame, Biden turned in the worst debate performance ever and one of the most vapid, impaired and scary presentations of any politician ever. The only thing scarier than watching Biden with sound was watching Biden without sound. The visage was empty and frightening.

Biden is done. It remains to be seen if the Democrats will stumble to Election Day with a mentally and physically failing phantom or will move quickly to substitute a new candidate. That’s up to Democrats.

Americans have seen Biden for who he is. Trump got a major boost and now has powerful momentum toward a victory in November.

Stay tuned.