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3 Ways Donald Trump’s Debate Performance Will Affect The Race: These 3 points were clear victories for the president, likely to cut through the noise and directly reach Americans in the last two weeks of the election.
The Federalist ^ | 10/23/2020 | Christopher Bedford

Posted on 10/23/2020 6:55:44 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

It might seem obvious, but in all the racket that follows a debate, the most important focus is how it affects the race, if at all.

It was a solid debate, despite more questions geared toward former Vice President Joe Biden and against President Donald Trump, and with moderator Kristen Welker interrupting the president 24 times to Biden’s two, by Fox’s count. On the most important count, however, Trump won the debate hands down. Here’s three reasons why.

Pennsylvania

As Welker attempted to move from energy to the next topic in the last half hour of the debate, Trump asked a pointed question:

Trump: “Would he close down the oil industry? Would you close down the oil industry?”

Biden: “I would transition from the oil industry, yes.”

Trump: “Oh, that’s a big statement.”

Biden: “That is a big statement, because I would stop–”

Welker: “Why would you do that?”

Biden: “Because the oil industry pollutes significantly.”

Trump: “Oh, I see. That’s a big statement.”

Joe Biden: "I would transition from the oil industry, yes."

Pres. Trump: "Oh. That's a big statement."

"It is a big statement." https://t.co/zkoTdi6727 #Debates2020 pic.twitter.com/Eh24bXuDkh

— ABC News (@ABC) October 23, 2020

Having read this exchange and seen it, it’s worth a two-panel look. Watch Trump’s face as Biden attacks oil on the national stage.

LOL Trump’s face as he listens to Biden bury himself with the oil industry pic.twitter.com/c986R55ksz

— Quoth the Raven (@QTRResearch) October 23, 2020

“That may be the biggest statement,” Trump said, savoring the moment as first part of the exchange came to a close. “In terms of business, that’s the biggest statement, because basically what he’s saying is he is going to destroy the oil industry… Will you remember that, Pennsylvania?”

And he was right. Pennsylvania is a very important state to a Trump Electoral College win, and despite signs it has been trending more red, it is still very much a toss-up that could help sink a second term. Why, when so much of the country seems to be trending blue, is Pennsylvania going the other direction? In a word, energy.

In 2008 and 2012, Philadelphia dominated the vote, coming out in support of the first black president. In 2016, rural voters eager to take part in the booming American energy economy helped propel Trump to the White House. That year, Obama’s final-day Philadelphia appeal fell short, though we saw him try again just this week because he knows it is crucial.

Biden, with prodding from Trump, just wrote the Republican campaign ad. He was even kind enough to write the introduction, challenging the president to “show the tape” where Biden says fracking should be banned.

Biden took a less radical tack in the primary, pushing back against the Green New Deal’s anti-energy policies, but in a rush to unite the Democratic Party after winning, tacked hard to the left in the general. It was a gamble designed to unite both the liberal and radical wings of the Democratic Party behind him, and based on the hypothesis that simply a united Blue Team is strong enough to win the country.

In the past few weeks, he’s once again changed course, insisting he would not ban fracking. On Thursday night, he sunk that final move, and a preview of what is to come was available within hours.

As per your request, Joe… https://t.co/78mzcfLEsF pic.twitter.com/AalVkSfHFi

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 23, 2020

Polls in Pennsylvania are close, and the president is at risk of losing the Keystone State, so expect his campaign to run Biden’s words over and over again. In the final stretch, it could make all the difference.

Far outside of Pennsylvania, where Democrats are hoping for wins in states like Texas and Oklahoma, expect to hear the top of the ticket’s attacks on the industry. It was the evening’s biggest win for the president.

Russian Disinformation

Biden knew he shouldn’t have brought it up — he said as much out loud — but did it anyway.

“Well, I shouldn’t…” the vice president began, fading off. “Well, I will.” You could almost hear the “No! No! No!” coming from his campaign war room, but there he went, claiming his family’s now-public, corrupt dealings with foreign corporations seeking access to power are just Russian disinformation. “Former New York City Mayor Rudy [Giuliani],” he charged, “he is being used as a Russian pawn. He, he is being fed information that is not true.”

This was a silly media and campaign line in the first place, but since the Democrats first staked this ground, the director of national intelligence has publicly said there is no evidence to support it. Since then, the Department of Justice and Department of State have agreed — as has the FBI, which is in possession of the laptop in question and is reportedly using its evidence in an investigation into suspected money laundering.

For a week, the titans of the American left have worked to quash this story, sending surrogates out to argue with the evidence while Big Tech actively suppresses the information and Biden hides from reporters more interested in asking him the flavor of his milkshake. It was going to be hard to hide until Election Day, but any hope of that is now dashed. Even the allied news networks that have diligently worked to ignore the story have now unintentionally aired it.

There’s no part of this story that plays into the vice president’s campaign message, and no aspect of it will do well with voters.

Tone

It’s a buzzword, and an annoying one, but it’s true: President Donald Trump’s usual tone plays terribly with a large swathe of the college-educated, suburban women who made up an important part of the old GOP. On the campaign trail in Michigan and Wisconsin just a week ago, we heard it over and over again: These voters don’t like his combative Queens style.

In case you missed this surprisingly funny moment from Trump, enjoy pic.twitter.com/NPh94PkLF1

— Hayes Brown (@HayesBrown) October 23, 2020

The first debate, just four days before the president was rushed to the hospital with Covid-19, did not help his case with these voters. Even MAGA-hat-wearing die-hard supporters felt let down. Thursday night, Trump turned that around, giving both what they’d been hoping for: A tempered defense of his administration’s accomplishments, combined with confidently pushing his opponent to answer for corruption allegations and the radical aspects of his party.

It was a strong debate performance, sure to calm nervous Republicans and likely to soothe those who say they’re wavering so much they’d wondered if they would vote at all.

These three points were clear victories for the president, likely to cut through the noise and directly reach Americans in the last two weeks of the election.

Thursday night was the last time Americans would ever watch Donald Trump live in a presidential debate. “Let’s finish this,” he reportedly told aides after leaving the stage.


Christopher Bedford is a senior editor at The Federalist, the vice chairman of Young Americans for Freedom, a board member at the National Journalism Center,


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2020; barackhusseinobama; debate; donaldtrump; foxnews; joebiden; kristenwelker; michigan; mittromney; nbcnews; paulryan; pennsylvania; philadelphia; trump; wisconsin
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1 posted on 10/23/2020 6:55:44 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

Great piece. All the pieces are in place now to sweep the Rust and Sun Belts.


2 posted on 10/23/2020 6:59:31 AM PDT by No_Mas_Obama
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To: SeekAndFind
In case you missed this surprisingly funny moment from Trump, enjoy https://t.co/NPh94PkLF1

I have no clue as to what is funny about Trump here.

3 posted on 10/23/2020 7:00:16 AM PDT by CatOwner
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To: All

POINTS TO PONDER

<><> Joe Biden met frequently w/ Yang Jiechi of China’s Central Foreign Affairs
Commission, during Yang’s tenure at the Chinese embassy in Washington.

<><> Hunter Biden’s 2013 Bohai Harvest Rosemont investment partnership was set-up by several of China’s
Ministry of Foreign Affairs institutions (tasked w/ garnering influence with foreign leaders during YANG’s tenure as Foreign Minister).


VP nominee, Kamala’s hubby’s law firm DLA Piper, employs officials who hold prominent CCP positions:

<><> on CCP’s Senior Advisory Board, the China International Economic, Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC),

<><> the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC),

<><> and other of its organizations.

DLA PIPER also represents CCP-owned companies, including

<><> two airlines

<><> technology companies w/ US security issues ....ByteDance, and Tencent.

<><> advises the Chinese embassy in Canberra, Australia.

<><> and is involved in multi-billion-dollar businesses.

<><> Hunter Biden is linked to the CCP, via Bohai Harvest (Hunter owns 10% of the capital stock).


4 posted on 10/23/2020 7:04:32 AM PDT by Liz ( Our side has 8 trillion bullets; the other side doesn't know which bathroom to use.)
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To: SeekAndFind

“Let’s finish this.”

A line that I believe will become immortal.

Lines that define presidencies:

“Honey, I forgot to duck.” “Read my lips.” “I did not have sex with that woman.”

“Let’s finish this.”


5 posted on 10/23/2020 7:06:01 AM PDT by karnage
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To: SeekAndFind

I think another compelling statement by the President was:

Biden: For the people I’m going to blah, blah, blah and then I’ll blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Trump: Well since you were a senator and vice-president for 47 years, why didn’t get any of this done at that time.

I believe this will resonate, well, with undecided voters.


6 posted on 10/23/2020 7:07:48 AM PDT by JohnEBoy
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To: SeekAndFind
"Watch Trump’s face as Biden attacks oil on the national stage."

The eyebrow raise at 4 seconds into the Twitter clip was priceless. It spoke paragraphs, LOL.

7 posted on 10/23/2020 7:08:38 AM PDT by Tench_Coxe
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To: SeekAndFind
Several times he reminded voters he is not part of the political class. His statement that he ran because of BO and Biden was conversationsl and brilliant. That’s got to resonate with voters.

I’ll add that that’s a true statement. My belief is that Trump was waiting for 30 years for someone to step up and help set America straight. When no one did, he realized he’d have to do it himself.

8 posted on 10/23/2020 7:12:35 AM PDT by The Truth Will Make You Free
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To: CatOwner

It was funny because it redirected Biden’s attempt to paint Trump as “coming from out of left field” with a simple one word response.


9 posted on 10/23/2020 7:18:58 AM PDT by SoCal Pubbie
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To: SeekAndFind

Good analysis.

I also think the President effectively made the point several times in different ways that Biden hasn’t accomplished anything (other than personal enrichment) when he has held positions of power in the past. All hat, no cattle - one might say. Just “plans”.


10 posted on 10/23/2020 7:25:23 AM PDT by bigbob (Trust Trump. Trust the Plan)
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To: karnage

Why does Trump think he’s going to win votes by bragging about letting convicted criminals out of prison?

If I’m a black person living in a high crime area, why would I want more criminals on the street? If I’m a suburban mom, why would I want more criminals on the street?

Are people really going to vote for Trump because he’s releasing prisoners?

For me, if that was something I wanted - release of prisoners - I’d be more inclined to vote Democrat.


11 posted on 10/23/2020 7:28:34 AM PDT by rintintin (The)
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To: rintintin

Do you realize that you just admitted that you are a Never Trumper?


12 posted on 10/23/2020 7:44:29 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: JohnEBoy

Again the Democrats offer the same old things, all revealed this week: “plans” like Stalin’s 5 year plans, commissions (to “reform” the Supreme Court), lots of money flowing to teachers unions, green energy that doesn’t work well (I live in CA and now we have no power when the temp hits 100—we have to take turns having power due to green energy), and corruption.


13 posted on 10/23/2020 7:45:33 AM PDT by olivia3boys
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To: CatOwner
Re: 3

While Biden is saying “I don’t know where he [President Trump] comes from ...”, President Trump says “Queens”.

I missed it yesterday. Viewing it now, I thought it was chuckle worthy.

14 posted on 10/23/2020 7:47:23 AM PDT by El Cid (Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house...)
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To: SeekAndFind

As to Joe’s wanting to end fossil fuels, exactly how does he want me to cook my fabulous meals? Isn’t (natural) gas cooking more desirable than electric appliances? It is for every serious chef out there.

Keep stepping in it, Joe. You want to take everything good away from us, and replace it with things that don’t solve problems, and at the same time, create new ones. You are a mess, Joe! Be gone!


15 posted on 10/23/2020 7:50:42 AM PDT by FamiliarFace
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To: SeekAndFind
Biden blew up any win in Pennsylvania and Texas and a few other oil states including those with refineries.

He knows sh** about oil and its products....which probably includes his teeth...and his plugs.

16 posted on 10/23/2020 7:51:33 AM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: karnage

17 posted on 10/23/2020 7:53:35 AM PDT by littleharbour ("You take on the intel community they have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you" C. Schumer)
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To: El Cid
While Biden is saying “I don’t know where he [President Trump] comes from ...”, President Trump says “Queens”.

Thank you. I wasn't picking up Trump's comment.

18 posted on 10/23/2020 7:55:08 AM PDT by CatOwner
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To: rintintin

I’m also very uninterested in this issue—but apparently it’s a HUGE issue with black families and Biden (and Harris who is also weak here) can’t afford to get fewer than 80% of their votes.

I do agree with Dems that police overreach is a problem—for people of all races. One great thing Biden did last night is finally teach black kids (if any of them were watching) how to deal with police properly and not resist arrest. Most white parents already teach their kids that.


19 posted on 10/23/2020 7:55:40 AM PDT by olivia3boys
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To: FamiliarFace

Berkeley CA did already ban gas stoves and ovens in new construction. Chefs are appalled. I think the next big thing will be these convection burner things that heat up the pot but not the surface of the stove. They are better than electric but still not as good as gas.


20 posted on 10/23/2020 7:58:47 AM PDT by olivia3boys
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