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David Birdsell, the dean of the Marxe School of Public and International Affairs at CUNY’s Baruch College examined the latest debate and claimed that “Trump was more methodical, but it wasn’t enough,” according to the New York Post.
“Mr. Trump was more methodical, but it wasn’t enough: He needed a game-changer but didn’t get one. Biden had no significant gaffes that will hurt him over the remaining 12 days.”
“Trump was sharper and far more disciplined tonight,” said Republican strategist Matt Mackowiak.
“Five or six states will decide this thing and they are all within the margin of error,” Mackowiak noted.
“Biden is ahead but Trump can still win.”
“Biden came better prepared and demonstrated a refreshing contrast of empathy, compassion, and decency that will keep the race hurtling toward an overwhelming Biden victory,” wrote Eric Soufer, a veteran of the Obama and Edwards campaigns.
From New York Post:
Fox News’ latest polls from those states, released Wednesday, showed that Biden had opened leads of at least five percentage points among likely voters in all three before the debate.
So stanching the bleeding and winning over independents is critical to reversing those trends — and a third panelist, former Staten Island GOP chairwoman Leticia Remauro, thought Trump got the job done.
“This was Trump’s best debate ever,” the 2021 Staten Island borough president hopeful wrote. “He was thoughtful and kept to his theme that Biden couldn’t get it done.”
But longtime Democratic strategist Eric Soufer argued that Trump’s improved performance from his damaging first showing wouldn’t be enough to shift the race — and that Trump’s answers on health care and the coronavirus would come back to haunt him in the closing days.
Here’s how our panelists graded each round of the debate:
Overall:
Birdsell — Biden: B+ / Trump: C-
Mackowiak — Biden: B- / Trump: A-
— Advertisement — Soufer — Biden: A / Trump: C-
Remauro — Biden: C / Trump: A+
