The first thing to note from Thursday night’s debate was that Kristin Welker did a really good job of keeping the topics moving. The muted microphone was helpful, but even so she seemed firm and fair. Kudos to Kristin for doing such an admirable job after being attacked on Twitter by Trump as a leftist partisan hack. The attacks were viscious.

Apart from that, it was entertaining to watch the conservative pundits attempt to declare victory because he went a whole 90 minutes without pissing himself on national TV. Indeed Trump has set the bar for success low. He can stand there and lie for 90 minutes and as long as he keeps his outbursts to a dull roar, Rick Santorum will declare he was “Presidential” tonight.

Oftentimes in a debate, 99% of it is forgotten within a week. Who remembers anything from the Vice Presidential debate besides the infamous fly? Where Biden scored with swing voters and independents was his message about pledging to be the president of ALL of the states, red and blue. Trump was hell-bent on penalizing blue states as he has done for the last 4 years. But you can’t just blame Trump. The republican party has in fact rejected stimulus deals related to Covid-19 based solely on the fact that there was “too much money going to blue states” in them.

This is the issue that I believe has caused Trump to do so poorly with suburban women. There are many reasons to be disappointed in Trump, but the one that I think is weighing heaviest on the minds of people in suburbia is his strategy to divide us as a nation instead of unite us. This has exacerbated the Trump fatigue factor and may be his biggest miscalculation going into November 3rd.

I personally felt Biden should have going on the attack a little bit more. When they focus on Hunter Biden, there’s no shortage of emoluments issues that could have been brought up about the Trump family. I realize this is whataboutism, but in some cases you have to fight fire with fire. I would have asked him why his family is banned from running charitable foundations in the State of NY? It was because of theft. Ivanka’s sweetheart trade deals with China. Why did he take out a full page ad in the NT Times against the Central Park 5? They were proven innocent. I would have brought up Charlottesville, Charlottesville, Charlottesville until they cut off my mic.

This is war after all. Nice guys finish last.