Posted on 09/30/2020 9:28:33 AM PDT by Qiviut
“It’s not who votes that count, but who counts the votes” Josef Stalin said. Or, at least, a variation of this simplified version. But the brutal dictator was right. Ultimately, it’s whoever gets to decide what a “vote” is will be the one to decide if the person who cast that actually voted.
We see the same thing every time Donald Trump is engaged in a debate, whether against Republicans in the 2015-16 primary, against Hillary Clinton in the 2016 general election, or last night. Sure enough, while comments from people watching the debate between Trump, Joe Biden, and Chris Wallace—the supposed moderator who became Trump’s second debate opponent—the consensus was that Trump got aggressive, that he missed opportunities to “make his case” to the undecided, and most of all to take out Biden decisively.
Not so fast. Let’s see who counts the “votes.” In fact, in post-debate online polls, Trump was the winner. Again. Like he always is.
You’d think the other side would have figured this out by now. Trump’s Team knows from its early experience that it’s who counts the votes that matter. Or, in this case, it’s who controls the post-debate polls that matter. And that would be Trump’s army of loyal fans, who swarm to sites to ensure the “votes” are correctly cast.
Last night was no different. Telemundo—hardly a Trump-friendly site—had Trump the winner by more than 2:1 by the time I hit the hay.
James Carville said that Biden should “think long and hard whether they want to put the country through this again.”
Others in the Biden camp were less than excited about his performance. Nate Silver said, “Biden wasn’t especially sharp.” Dave Wasserman said that Biden “didn’t do much to dispel” perceptions of his dementia or concerns about his age. “Biden was not at his sharpest. He’s almost 78 and looked/sounded it.” Joy Reid asked, “If you were Joe Biden’s team, would you do another one?” Wolf Blitzer said he “wouldn’t be surprised . . . if this is the last presidential debate between these two candidates . . ..” The Atlantic said, “cancel the debates,” as did Slate. Although initially Senator Chris Coons told Politico Biden should not commit to further debates, that did not appear to be a winning strategy. Quickly Kate Bedingfield dismissed that claim.
In full damage-control mode, as with 2016, after the immediate snap polls, the “majors” such as CNN and CBS get involved and more carefully manipulate their results showing Biden won. But the damage was done.
It didn’t help that Biden almost certainly had an earpiece with information coming in. He spent much of his time looking down as if to concentrate on what was being said in his ear. A staffer said “Good luck” to him through the earpiece and Biden repeated it out loud at the start of the debate.
Biden DEFINITELY had an earpiece…
— Into The Fight Podcast (@itfpod) September 30, 2020
Earlier, despite having agreed to a physical check for electronic devices, the Biden team backed away from that agreement. In fact, the wires can be seen here:
Well…well…well. A Patriot with a good eye released this.
Hmmm. @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/PdRVY7Y2H7
— MediaFerret ((Parler: @MediaFerret)) (@Media__Ferret) September 30, 2020
Most conservatives, though agreeing that Trump often talked too fast and too much, agreed that Biden lost, especially when he couldn’t answer the question about calling the mayor of Portland to stop the violence or having a rejoinder to Trump’s correct statement that he didn’t have one law enforcement group backing him. Other conservative pundits likewise had Trump the clear winner, and, as Rush Limbaugh always says, “The aggressor sets the rules.” Last night, Trump was clearly the aggressor.
But let’s return to the Telemundo poll. For those of you searching for the reason for Trump’s aggressiveness, look no further.
President Donald Trump gestures while speaking during the first presidential debate Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020, at Case Western University and Cleveland Clinic, in Cleveland, Ohio. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Trump has been slowly but very steadily moving Hispanics and black males behind him. Last night was the knockout blow. While suburban Karen’s might have cringed at Trump’s “bullying,” there is a totally different perception among people of color. Loud and aggressive speech is not viewed the same in these communities as snowflake speech. Have you ever watched two black women go at it? Hispanic males would be anything but repelled by Trump’s macho deconstruction of the infantile Biden. I could be wrong, but I think this is the key to Trump’s entire attitude. Team Trump likely calculated that they had reached the end of the line with the Karen’s. The only thing remaining that would turn the holdouts would be more riots in their neighborhoods. Trump has no control over that. But there is still plenty of room for growth among Hispanics as a whole and black males. (Black females, by and large, are in the Karen Cart this election). And it was here that Trump’s debate strategy is paying off.
Democrats should be terrified of the Telemundo poll. This is an area where the Trump-bots normally don’t tread. It was unlikely this was part of the 2016-type post-debate “how to win” strategy. This was spontaneous. And for the Democrats, it was spontaneous combustion.
Larry Schweikart is the co-author with Michael Allen of the New York Times #1 bestseller, A Patriot’s History of the United States, author of Reagan: the American President, and founder of the Wild World of History, a history curriculum website that features full US and World History curriculum for grades 9-12, complete with teacher guides, student workbooks, maps/charts, tests, and videos for each unit (www.wildworldofhistory.com).
Ping!
REALLY watch it, and the "wire" APPEARS after his hand is removed from inside his coat.
Thank You for posting FRiend!
Bkmrk
I wonder what the suburban Karens thought when Biden called Trump a clown on multiple occasions. Also, it happened once where the former VP angrily told PDJT to “shut up!”. Were the Karens offended by this behavior?
I wrote my take on the debate, but I tell you what: I think you did a greater job focusing on this topic -- the Latino and Black perception -- and did a better job explaining it. Thanks, brother Larry!
Great article
I appreciated your analysis Laz. I took a little flak over my expression of disappointment in President Trump’s performance, but it was a criticism - not a condemnation. And it was a visceral reaction. I went back and re-watched the debate and had a more favorable reaction the 2nd time through. I didn’t think that Trump did badly, just that I know he could have done better.
I do too but he wouldn't lose my vote if he went on stage and went to sleep. The complainers here don't seem to get it. When he was in his first primary I never though he won a single debate but he had my vote right after he came down the staircase and I have never wavered.
It would have helped him if some of the stuff leaking out now had been brought out by the FBI instead of private attorneys. Wray is deep state all the way and for my money so is Durham and Barr.
Don’t think it matters. The only thing that matters with them is how safe they feel with BLM/antifa
I posted this on another thread but it’s interesting enough to post here too.
This is surprising.
The early tv ratings for the debate were down sharply - by 36%.
[Election watcher] David Chapman has an interesting twitter thread on this:
https://twitter.com/davidchapman141/status/1311347569289768960
David Chapman
@davidchapman141
The media believed the debate was going to be the most watched in history. Ratings were down. People are not as interested in this election as the polls and media are claimimg. The ratings were down for the conventions as well.
You could argue people have already made up their minds and don’t want to bother with the debates or conventions. But I would argue it’s something else. Look at the census response rates. They’re down 10 pts from 2010. Not a good sign for a VBM election.
The Ballot requests are high, but not as high as one would expect after the Democrats have pushed this for months. The pollsters assuming 165-180M voters turning out...it’s not gonna happen. The writing is on the wall. The average person isn’t interested in politics this time.
Joe Biden’s lead is based on the assumption that 165-180M turn out to vote. It’s not gonna happen. Unless you support Trump, you are not interested in politics this cycle.
It comes down to turn out and the only voters who are guaranteed to show up are Trump voters.
Unless you support Trump, you are not interested in politics this cycle. It comes down to turn out and the only voters who are guaranteed to show up are Trump voters.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Dan Bongino’s take is along these lines - its a “base” election. If you can get the majority of your base to turn out as opposed to the other guy, then you will win. Very few voters have not made up their minds at this point. Joe is NOT exciting the Left & last night, Trump got him to throw some water on what support he does have among certain Leftist voters.
Ep. 1359 Why Trump Won Last Night, Big
https://rumble.com/vakm5j-ep.-1359-why-trump-won-last-night-big.html?mref=22lbp&mrefc=2
Some people like seeing a tough guy, brawler. If so, Trump did that well last night.
For polite company, last night wasn’t that...
Yes, true. I’m thinking that compared to 2016, HRC excited a lot of voters (”first woman president”!!) while Biden is putting them to sleep. That’s why his campaign has to rely on the fake news to drag him through events and cover for his blunders.
Pollster Richard Baris said the other day that one of the best and most revealing polling questions since it started to be asked in 1988 is: “how enthusiastic are you to vote for your candidate”? While voters might lie about who they vote for, they will answer that question. Turns out the presidential candidate with the most would-be enthused voters has ALWAYS won since 1988. Seems kind of obvious but it holds true every time. Everyone knows, and the polls all show, a huge enthusiasm gap between Trump voters and Biden voters. Lib commentator Martha Raddatz said she travelled 6000 across the country and found little enthusiasm for Biden. That must have hurt to say!
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