RUTHFULLY YOURS

These weren’t the Lincoln-Douglas debates. They weren’t Kennedy-Nixon. If those were graded “A,” then this was “C-minus,” at best. The low point was who is the better golfer? I’ll go with Lincoln.

Both candidates filled the air with hyperbole. Trump led the way, as usual, calling everything he did “the best ever,” and everything Biden did “the worst.” He doesn’t favor shades of gray.

Biden responded in kind. He was right to emphasize Trump’s hours of silence during the January 6 attack on the Capitol. But he didn’t stop there. He went on to repeat what he surely knows is a lie about Trump’s comments after Charlottesville. And he kept going, trying to link Trump directly neo-Nazis.

It could have been worse. The CNN format was far better than previous debates. Keep it. Ditch the audience and allow only one mic at a time. The moderators’ questions were fair and tackled the big topics, as they should have. The debate would have been more informative if each candidate had time for a second rebuttal. That would have encouraged more debate over several major issues. Perhaps they can make that change next time.

What will stick in voters’ minds?

First, Trump is the same guy they either loved or hated the last time around. He hurt himself with inflated self-praise, bombastic language and turning his criticism of Biden up to eleven each time he spoke. Still, his performance was far better than his first debate in 2020, when he repeatedly interrupted Biden and came off as a bully. He avoided that trap this time, partly because of the format, partly because he didn’t disregard the rules. Trump’s major plus was that he drove home his main points about inflation, immigration, the economy and foreign wars.

For Biden, the message is far darker. Frankly, it must have been painful for many viewers to watch. They could see a man who is simply too old, infirm and cognitively challenged to perform the world’s most difficult and dangerous job for the next four years. In fact, he doesn’t look fit to do it now. Unfortunately for him, his party and the country, those problems will only get worse.

Biden’s visible difficulties raise the grim possibility that he might not finish a second term and would give way to Kamala Harris. Voters, faced with that prospect, have consistently said, “No!” Asked for a second opinion, they said, “Oh, God, no!” Expect Trump and the Republicans to pound that home. They’ve already begun rolling out advertisements with that theme.

Biden’s biggest problem wasn’t just that he nearly went blank at fourteen minutes and twenty-two minutes into the debate and, less obviously, during his concluding statement. It wasn’t just that he seemed to say Trump had left him with 50 percent unemployment. Those gaffes mattered mostly because they turned a spotlight on Biden’s insoluble problem: he is a man in obvious physical and cognitive decline, a shadow of the man who campaigned in 2020.

The president looked dreadful and sounded hoarse. At times, his face looked blank, like those painted eggs where they have sucked out everything inside. It’s obvious why he refuses to take cognitive tests or hold press conferences. What the public saw on the debate stage made it all visible. Unavoidable.

Biden’s supporters, led by his wife, Jill, respond that the two candidates are roughly the same age. That’s true, but it’s misleading. The issue here isn’t age alone. The issue is the terrible damage age has wrought on Joe Biden. Ninety minutes on stage made that visible. Trump has made occasional mental slips on the campaign trail — though none in the debate — but he is obviously more coherent and mentally fit than his opponent.

In sum, the debate probably left viewers with the feeling that both candidates are sticking with the issues that help them, selling them the way they always have. Nothing new there. Nor is there anything new with Trump’s personality or energy, whether you like them or not. There’s nothing new about Biden’s policies, either. He says they are working just fine. Polls show voters don’t think so. What is new is what voters could finally see on stage: what the White House has worked so diligently to hide. Biden is in rough shape. And it won’t get better.