https://www.wsj.com/articles/bidens-character-campaign-11603427398?mod=opinion_lead_pos1
President Trump came to the second and last presidential debate Thursday night trying to pin down Joe Biden on his policies and family’s business with foreign governments. Mr. Biden did his best to parry and duck, coming back time and again to his main themes of “character” and an end to divisive politics. With a solid lead, and more than 40 million votes already cast, Mr. Biden’s bet is that he can run out the clock.
Mr. Trump was both better prepared and more disciplined than in the first debate, and if he loses on Nov. 3 he will wish he had done that the first time. He offered the best defense we’ve heard him make of his coronavirus effort, focusing on the vaccines in development, his mobilization of resources in the spring, and the need to balance protection of the vulnerable with reopening the country.
Mr. Biden is his most demagogic when he addresses the virus, saying at one point that “anyone responsible for that many deaths should not remain as President.” We’ve criticized Mr. Trump’s inconsistent and sometimes Panglossian rhetoric, but calling him responsible for every American death is neither honest nor decent. Mr. Biden’s “plan” on Covid is essentially Mr. Trump’s with more prudent rhetoric and a warning to wear a mask. On potential future lockdowns, Mr. Trump says no while Mr. Biden says maybe.