Joe Biden's tepid debate performance while battling a cold leaves Democrats in a panic while Donald Trump looks like a winner who lies a lot -- and does little else

Joe Biden tries to stifle a cough during debate (CNN)

 

Within minutes after the start of last night's presidential debate, Democrats went into panic mode over the tepid performance of  President Joe Biden. Several news outlets later reported that Biden had been bothered by cold symptoms -- a cough and sore throat -- with some stating he had been sick for several weeks About three minutes into the debate, it became clear that something was wrong with Biden; his raspy voice made some of his answers unintelligible. At other times, he appeared to be lost in space. After that, nothing else said in the 90-minute debate seemed to matter. You might call it "The Debate Nobody Won" and file it under the heading "Donald Trump unleashes an "avalanche of lies" (the words of CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale) while Joe Biden stumbles and fumbles." In the end, Democrats were in disarray, while Trump looked like a winner -- even though he did little beyond spewing one lie after another. Here is an overview from the Axios AM newsletter, under the headline "Biden's Backfire." Zachary Basu writes:

President Biden's debate performance triggered a meltdown of epic proportions Thursday night, uniting Democrats of all stripes — optimists and bedwetters — in a state of unprecedented panic.

Why it matters: On the biggest stage in politics — with a rule set and date specifically requested by the Biden campaign — the 81-year-old president poured gasoline on Democrats' worst fears about his age and capacity to lead.

• It was by no means a strong performance by his opponent, former President Trump, who spewed falsehoods and defended the rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6.
• But the visual frailty, rambling answers and constant gaffes were enough to make Biden — and his fate as the presumptive Democratic nominee — the biggest political story of the year.

How to summarize perhaps the strangest debate in American political history? Basu provides these insights:

4 takeaways

1. Biden's slow start.

• Biden's unusually hoarse voice — which a source close to the president attributed to a cold — established an immediate contrast with Trump, who is three years younger than Biden.
• Panic set in among Democrats when Biden froze during an answer just minutes into the debate. Trump was quick to capitalize on Biden's stumbles: "I really don't know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don't think he knows what he said either."
• Biden found his footing later in the debate, landing shots on Trump for bragging about the end of Roe v. Wade and leaving behind a COVID-wrecked economy.

2. The format favors Trump.

• After attacking CNN all week over the debate's rules, Trump appeared unusually measured on stage — perhaps benefiting from the lack of an audience and mic cuts that shut off his ability to interrupt Biden.
• The split-screen broadcast wasn't kind to Biden, who often stared during Trump's answers with his mouth agape. Trump, meanwhile, smirked when his opponent stumbled over his words.
• Moderators did not fact-check either candidate in real-time — allowing Trump to make at least 30 false claims and Biden to make nine, according to a post-debate CNN analysis.

3. Bizarro world takes over.

• In a striking reminder of just how unusual this election is, Biden rattled off a list of Trump's alleged crimes and civil liabilities, including his felony conviction.
• "You have the morals of an alley cat," Biden shot at Trump, to which the former president responded: "I didn't have sex with a porn star."
• Toward the end of the debate, the two men sparred over their golf handicaps — culminating in Trump urging his foe: "Let's not act like children."

4. Dems admit defeat.

• Former Obama campaign manager David Plouffe called Biden's performance a "DEFCON One moment" on MSNBC, typically home to some of Biden's biggest boosters on cable news.

• Kate Bedingfield, former communications director in Biden's own White House, acknowledged on CNN that the president failed to allay concerns about his energy and stamina.
• "Telling people they didn't see what they saw is not the way to respond to this," tweeted former Obama aide Ben Rhodes.

Some Democrats did try to project a sense of calm in the storm, Basu reports:

The other side: Some top Biden surrogates urged Democrats to keep calm and carry on, acknowledging the president's rocky start while insisting he finished strong.

• "I'm not going to spend all night with you talking about the last 90 minutes when I've been watching the last 3.5 years of performance," Vice President Kamala Harris said in a testy interview with CNN.
• "You don't turn your back because of one performance," California Gov. Gavin Newsom told MSNBC. "What kind of party does that?"

The bottom line: A new YouGov poll found that in a blind test, Biden's policy proposals earn far more popular support than Trump's.

• For many Democrats, Biden's debate debacle confirmed that their biggest problem isn't their message — but their messenger.