BREAKING: President Biden says debate performance was the result of his foreign travel (CNN)

[brooklynite]

Link to tweet

[The Magistrate]

1. Sometimes A Man Does Push Himself, Sir

People will try and make hay of it just the same, but it's honest, rings true, and shows a man ready to go an extra mile.

[Eko]

11. "A president must be able to travel the world, represent our interests, and return while still able to lead."

Is far far different thing from doing well in a debate. Performing in a debate is none of those things.

[MadameButterfly]

24. Performing in a debate is indeed one of those things n/t

[Eko]

25. Which one?

[MadameButterfly]

30. Leading

Selling your record, defining the faults of your opponent, convincing voters you can do the job, and getting elected.

[Eko]

33. And those are only done in debates?

[Eko]

51. There is literaly nothing you can do in a debate that would protect democracy

That would come even close to the things he has actually done to protect democracy. The debate is WWF wrestling on tv compared with the real things he has done.

[Dorian Gray]

72. I think the problem is that

allowing himself to be shown in a vulnerable state, no matter what the cause, is a threat to democracy bc the right will jump on it and use it as a cudgel to not vote for Biden/Dems.

I keep going back and forth between HE HAS TO BE THE CANDIDATE and HE HAS TO LET KAMALA RUN. I don't have the absolute answer, but this is a big enough fuckup. And I'm a little mad about it. At whom, I'm not sure yet.

[Eko]

78. I thought deep on this one.

What you are talking about is perception. Unfortunately in our WWE country perception is a big thing. I agree with you on that. But its important to remember that perception is not reality and is very malleable. Its all propaganda. You are correct that the right will use it to jump on it and use it as a cudgel, they did the same when Hillary Clinton got sick. People get sick, people have bad nights. What you want is someone who shows no weakness from being human. Do you think Kamala will get sick and the gop will pounce on that? Of course they will and the media will showcase that for days. We have to move on past that and not let their propaganda effect us. Biden is older and that can effect perceptions, its up to the campaign and us to accept that, move on and adjust things so it doesn't define him. To refocus on what is at stake, what Biden has done and what he will continue to do. If someone told me that Biden did horrible at the debate I'd say he didnt do as well as I would have like him to do but dump was an absolute insane fucker in the debate. dump didn't even try to answer the questions at all. On climate change he said we had H2O, the best H2O. JFC that is an insane answer. Biden outwitted the oil companies, that was a genius boss move that no one has ever done! Dont let the re-frame it when our country is at stake. Kamala is great, but what is her record compared to Biden's? Dont let your perception overshadow his record, and even his recent record.

[whathehell]

35. EVERYONE has limits..

and I think someone half his age would be depleted by the schedule he's described.

[MadameButterfly]

46. Part of his job is knowing what he can do and being prepared

for the most important TV appearance of his life.

You can decide you want to keep backing Joe and it's going to be ok.
But to say 40 year old Joe would have responded like that on any schedule is just not credible.

[whathehell]

81. Sorry, but I don't think one debate fail wipes out

an excellent four year record of doing "his job".
Saying that someone half his age would be depleted by a similar schedule doesn't mean it would have an identical effect on both people.

[Baitball Blogger]

14. Oh, stop it.

If you vote Democratically, you'll vote for Biden in November. That's the only qualifier to be on this site.

[Baitball Blogger]

39. As far as I can remember, it's always been like this at this stage in an election year.

One day we'll look back and say that it was worse during the Clinton vs Bernie infighting in 2016.

[MadameButterfly]

54. It's never been like this before

There has never been an 81 year old candidate.
There have never been major newspapers calling for a nominee to step down this late in an election.
There's never been a debate this early.
There has never been a debate performance like this.
There has never been an opponent so dangerous.
There has never been a Supreme Court granting immunity to a demagoge.

We are witnessing unprecedented history.
To decide what we should do we must see it as it is.

[MadameButterfly]

41. I too will vote for the Democratic nominee no matter

who it is. But the idea that it's an easy call at this point who it should be is putting your head in the sand.

This isn't like, can we really win the Superbowl. We have to take it more seriously than that.

[Celerity]

43. Strange statement for a US Naval lawyer to make:

My loyalty is to the party first.

Mine is to the Constitution and the nation first.

Same as the military oath you took, if memory serves.

[MadameButterfly]

47. The Constitution and the nation require

a Democratic Party victory this year.

[Celerity]

55. that is not what I was referring to, you have introduced a secondary proposition/element

A strict logical reading of what the other poster said:

My loyalty is to the party first.

would yield an outcome that they put party over the country/Constitution.

[Ms. Toad]

57. You're a bit out of touch with reality if you believed that a week ago we had an easy road to reelection.

It was never going to be easy. There is too large a core of Trump supporters.

[Eko]

15. Were you a VLC?

[Eko]

32. where were you based?

[MadameButterfly]

48. Thank you for your service

[enough]

18. Absolutely agree. Every time the debate gets blamed on some outside factor,

it reinforces the idea that he is weak and limited. They should just accept it happened and push on. The job is the Presidency of the United States, not a position granted in compassion.

Recently somebody on DU suggested that it was because the hour was too late and elderly people don’t function as well at night. I totally understand this, being 80 myself. But really, for President? The only thing that may save us is that TRUMP is worse.

[MadameButterfly]

22. i like Kamala but the only criteria if we changed horses

should be electability.

I'm not commenting on her electability here in relation to others, just that "she deserves it" and she's a woman BIPOC should be beside the point. This isn't about rewarding one individual however deserving. We all deserve a democracy and the people on Trump's hit list deserve to live.

If we break a glass ceiling and lose, we still lose. If we don't break a glass ceiling and win, I see a very deep bench of outstanding people of color and/or women coming up the ranks for future presidential runs. None of these will have a chance if Trump wins now.

Many of the potential candidates I've heard mentioned for now tend to break one glass ceiling or another, it just shouldn't be the reason to choose them. Choosing an overwhelmingly popular governor from a swing state is a viable criteria because, electability.

Kamala deserves a shot, she just shouldn't be appointed summarily without giving convention delegates an opportunity to consider all the options. We got into this mess from not considering all options, and wanting to be nice to a guy we liked.

[mzmolly]

49. Biden a racist?

What a crock of shit.

[jimfields33]

53. He flew back June 14th

The debate was June 27th. I’ve traveled many times overseas and two weeks is way more then needed to recoup.the return is always easier then the going.

[rzemanfl]

77. Didn't he spend six days on debate preparation?

[jimfields33]

83. Yes which was at camp David.

Grueling Hour long sessions three times a day from the reports.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

59. Gotta admire Joe's honesty.

[kelly1mm]

69. That he was still tired from a trip that ended 13 days before? nt

[TheKentuckian]

67. It sounds at least somewhat reasonable until we find

the trip being pointed to ended almost two weeks earlier but with that in mind I think it would be better to stop digging the hole and start moving forward.

[EX500rider]

87. Yeah that explanation did not make me feel better, almost a 1/2 month to recover seems like more then enough

[TheKentuckian]

88. Sometimes it is best to take the "L" rather than stacking more from the same bad game.

It is rare to get a lot of upside from working the refs so hard in a crappy loss that you get a two game suspension on top of it.

[Freethinker65]

2. Get enough sleep and stay hydrated. Important for everyone.

[LuckyCharms]

3. K&R. n/t

[senseandsensibility]

4. Rings true

but the press is in such a nitpicking anti-Biden mood that they'll probably say he's making excuses. But typical Joe, taking the blame and not throwing his staff under the bus.

[MadameButterfly]

26. Didn't his family blame the debate preppers?

Don't know if that also came from Joe

[senseandsensibility]

40. I didn't hear that

But I haven't heard anything from the family really.

[MadameButterfly]

50. Blaming the debate preppers was the first

justification sent out by the Biden camp--I can't specify exactly who. I thought it was the family.

[kelly1mm]

70. Well since the trip he was referring to ended 13 days before the debate still being tired

from said trip is not really a great excuse, no?

[Dorian Gray]

73. It's not.... and it reads as more excuse making.

[orange jar]

5. Case closed.

n/t

[agingdem]

13. Yup..

A cesspool of cable blather…dubious sources..and never happened bullshit (way past his sell-by date Carl Bernstein)..cacophony of white noise..Biden acknowledged and apologized for his debate performance .. now is the time for the Chicken Littles to throw off their doomsday cloaks and get Biden re-elected

[Deek1935]

17. Yup!!

[Polybius]

29. Here's Biden debating Paul Ryan in 2012

He utterly destroyed him.

[MadameButterfly]

34. Biden at his best. Thank you for that

That performance would have made mincemeat of Trump.

[Polybius]

37. Of course

2012's Biden would be up by 10-15 points.

[democrattotheend]

84. He was fantastic in that debate

And helped turn the tide back after Obama's terrible performance in the first debate. Which is why as much as I hate to say it, I really question whether he is up for the job now, knowing how much better he used to be. Don't get me wrong, Biden on his worst day is still 1 million times better than Trump on his best day, but I really wish he had decided not to run for reelection. He's a good man and he has been a great president, but he should have stuck to his original plan to run for one term only.

[Polybius]

85. The difference in those two debates is staggering

I get that he had a cold, but that's not enough it. If he had a cold in 2012, he would still have beaten Ryan.

Now, imagine if he was up against Paul Ryan this year instead of an idiot debater who lies at every moment. We'd be down by 10 right now to Ryan.

[kelly1mm]

71. The foreign travel he said he was still tired from ended 13 days before the debate.nt

[Fiendish Thingy]

6. Hope he stays in the US from now til November. Nt

[orange jar]

8. Agreed.

Do foreign business over the phone if he must, but this cannot happen again — it has already caused enough division as it is.

[Azathoth]

7. Yeah, we're in trouble

He's doubling down harder than Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Dianne Feinstein.

[onandup]

10. Wasn't he holed up in debate prep for a week prior?

?

[FBaggins]

12. Correct.

The international trip ended almost two weeks prior to the debate

Useful to note that this appears to be a self-deprecating comment made to supporters... not an official statement explaining what happened.

[Turbineguy]

16. I used to be on a containership run from Los Angeles to New York- through the Suez Canal and back.

That was 46 time zones in 98 days. The Atlantic and Pacific crossings were the worst. And eastbound was worse than westbound.

These time changes can really mess you up. And it takes a while to recover.

[agingdem]

23. I'm a little younger than Biden but after spending 4 days in London

I came home and slept for two days...and when I woke up the clock said 6:00 so I showered and got ready for my day only to discover it was 6 at night...it took me days to get back on schedule...

[Deek1935]

19. He was obviously tired and sounded like he had a cold. I think he was also over-prepped with too much data etc.

[Polybius]

86. Look at this difference in 2012 and tell me if you still think it was a cold

[LuckyCharms]

20. That's what happens when you have a POTUS who actually WORKS. n/t

[MadameButterfly]

36. i get the contrast with Trump but

Bill Clinton and Obama didn't work?

[LuckyCharms]

38. I'm not sure how you got there from my statement. n/t

[orange jar]

56. Once again, I'm bringing out this relevant Tweet:

Seems to be a lot of this going around since the debate.

[MadameButterfly]

58. You implied that the debate performance was because he was working

hard. i'm suggesting that hard working presidents have been able to juggle that with good debate performances.

[LuckyCharms]

62. I implied that Biden works, and Trump doesn't.

[MadameButterfly]

68. I agree that Trump has nothing else to do

while Biden runs a country. But this is normal for incumbents who in my experience handle this.

[LuckyCharms]

75. You're reading far too much into my comment. n/t

[LeftInTX]

21. So Trump didn't slip him a Mickey Finn?

[H2O Man]

27. Interesting.

I'd like to hear your opinion on this.

Recommended.

[crimycarny]

42. Everyone forgets about Joe Biden's stutter

Joe Biden's stutter is never factored into any of these discussions. The amount of mental effort that goes into controlling a stutter is not insignificant. Add to that Joe Biden's age, the format of the debate (strict time limit), and CNN not fact-checking and you have a recipe for disaster.

The CNN debate format was geared towards someone like Trump who is great with one-liner, fact-free responses (with zero push back), and disastrous for someone like Joe Biden who has never done well in "lightning round" type debates. That only gets harder with age.

I feel Biden's debate preparers failed him. My thoughts when watching the debate were "Oh my god, his preparers told Biden to combat the perception of cognition problems by having him overwhelm the audience with statistics." Joe Biden has never been that type of debater, even in his younger days. He's always been someone who could connect with the audience and explain why his policies are good for them from a human perspective versus spouting statistics.

I remember a debate in the 2016 primaries where Joe performed very poorly. The format was similar to CNN's from the standpoint that responses had strict time limits. For someone who has a stutter, it's extremely tough to find the right words and cadence to control the stutter while also getting your point across. That only gets harder with age.

I don't care how long it takes my President to answer a question, I want to hear what his answer is. I will reserve judgment until I can see Joe Biden ask similar questions, live, but given a format where he can answer.

[MichMan]

52. The debate format was the one that the Biden campaign asked for.

[MadameButterfly]

64. All this is true but Biden is the most seasoned politician possibly in the country

and should be able to pick his debate preppers and format.

In the end it's not whether we like Joe, it's whether the undecideds were convinced. They won't be interested in excuses.
The stutter might make him sympathetic, but that won't save us from Trump.

[Deek1935]

65. Yup

[LonePirate]

45. Per this Wiki article, he returned to the US on 6/14-6/15. The debate was on 6/27.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_international_presidential_trips_made_by_Joe_Biden

[Vogon_Glory]

60. I think another reason for President Joe's performance is that

a part of him still expects Donald John to play by the rules. He doesn’t: he constantly, confidently spews lies, distortions and falsehoods like a fire hose. You can’t debate someone like that, particularly when the so-called moderators won’t moderate or fact-check. People who stutter need more time to form and speak their sentences. I know this first-hand, I have a stutter myself and I know that I can’t go head-to-head with a fast-talker, even a lying, dishonest fast-talker without looking like I’m dumber than he is or I’m mentally impaired.

President Joe should do what he does best, press flesh, make uplifting, fighting speeches, and show why he’s a compassionate, competent leader.

[MadameButterfly]

66. check out the post earlier in this string of Biden debating Paul Ryan

That guy (2012 Biden) would have made mincemeat of Trump and wouldn't have asked for this debate format

[TheKentuckian]

79. He performed way, way better against Chump last time

and I don't recall all the fact checking from moderators that is being asserted.

More like a ticker for the audience if anything not the hosts wrecking shop on the Orange fuck on Joe's or Hillary's behalf.

[TheKentuckian]

80. Also, STILL expecting Chump.to play by the rules is legitimately delusional.

If you think that is a reasonable defense then I don't know what to tell you.

What in the world would indicate such a crazy belief makes any sense?

The biggest liar in the history of the world, a life long crook, and an election denying Insurrectionist is going to play by the rules?

If he really believed that nonsense then he actually is completely unfit, I don't buy it.

[Celerity]

61. '...and then I almost fell asleep on stage," Biden said

IMHO, this not the type of messaging that President Biden needs to be employing.

[dem4decades]

63. It's almost an admission that he's not... oh never mind.

[MorbidButterflyTat]

76. IF he said that, it was a joke.

Remember who couldn't stay awake during his trial where he was convicted 34 times.

[Celerity]

82. if it was a joke, then all good

[MorbidButterflyTat]

74. Kaitlan Collins can name names or STFU

When's her next exclusive Felon 45 fluffer?

Sick of Dem bashing on DU.



PS. Just read through this shameful thread. Who are you people? The MAGAts won't have to cheat their way back to the White House; Dems are handing it to them. SHAME.

[andym]

89. He says it's because he was sleepy-- he traveled in the wrong direction

He said he practically fell asleep on the stage. His handlers stated that Joe was just exhausted after 4pm each day.
As for his jetlag:

He was in Europe where time is later, so when he came back it was even earlier than normal. Looks like it was still affecting him more than a week after he came back.

He should have traveled west to Hawaii or Asia so that when he came back it, his body would think 7pm was more like 1pm or noon. Perhaps he should do that for the next debate.

There is a related idea that Joe is old and older people tend to be more alert earlier in the day.
discussed here: https://www.democraticunderground.com/100219085122
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4067093/#:~:text=Older%20adults'%20peak%20performance%20on,to%20be%20in%20the%20afternoon.
Look Out – It’s Your Off-Peak Time of Day! Time of Day Matters More for Alerting than for Orienting or Executive Attention