Who won the Biden-Trump debate? Takeaways from an early summer presidential slugfest | Opinion

Donald Trump and Joe Biden went face to face for an hour and a half in their first debate Thursday night. Here are some takeaways from the first debate to ever feature two men who have occupied the Oval Office.

WINNERS

Undecideds: Few issues were explored in enough detail, and voters know these two men better than your typical candidate. But there was a clear distinction between the candidates, and for those who can’t decide, they have a better picture of the options.

Donald Trump: By displaying at least a modicum of the one virtue that he’s always lacked, discipline, Trump got out of his own way. He mostly focused on the issues facing voters and avoiding making it all about him. But can he keep it up for four days, let alone four months?

Debate sanity: Debates in recent years, especially those involving Trump, were trending closer to Jerry Springer than Abraham Lincoln. By cutting mics, focusing questions with follow-ups and going without a live audience, CNN’s moderators charted a path to a real exchange between the candidates. Guess what also helped? Donald Trump’s rare discipline.

Democrats: Hear me out on this one: Biden’s miserable performance gives down-ballot Democrats permission to distance from him and position themselves as the obstacle to put in Trump’s path — or to open the door to replacing Biden on the ticket.

Robert F. Kennedy: How could more voters not take a look at the most viable third-party candidate after watching this?

LOSERS

Immigration: The segment on the second-most important issue in the race soon bogged down in unrelated issues, and neither candidate was called to detail his plans for solving the border, asylum reform, and an economically useful legal immigration system. Voters deserved better.

The debt crisis: Mere interest on the national debt is starting to crowd out other spending priorities and putting pressure on interest rates, which hurts families and economic growth. There wasn’t a single question on the matter, which will hit the next president and every policy he wants to implement.

Decorum: Look, Trump and Biden clearly don’t like each other, and that’s fine. But could we have gotten a handshake, or at least avoided a fat joke and bragging about golf handicaps?

Summer: A debate this early brought a kind of novelty, but we long for the days when Americans could tune out politics for a while, even in an election year. The Republican convention is in just a couple of weeks, then a brief break, then the Democrats’ convention and the fall campaign. Make Summer Great Again!

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