Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Bad news for Ron DeSantis is great news for America.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

Putin dreamed of ending NATO, and now it’s Finnish-ed.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

He really is that stupid.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

You are here: Home / Past Elections / 2020 Elections / Tuesday Evening Open Thread: Waiting for the Debate

Tuesday Evening Open Thread: Waiting for the Debate

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The Guardian liveblog is here. I’ll probably be following the debate there, and via your comments, plus of course my favorite twitter feeds.

Reader Interactions

170Comments

  2. 2.

    JMG

    OK, here’s the poll of the year. CBS asked voters who said they were going to watch the debate why they were. Like 75 percent said it was to watch their preferred candidate perform. Only six percent said it was to help them decide how to vote. But in my all-time favorite response, eight percent said they’d watch because it would be the only thing on TV. What a confession of an empty life! Too lazy even to click over to ESPN.

  3. 3.

    Redshift

    I voted! Dropped my absentee ballot off in the drop box at our county’s one early voting location (more will open October 14.) It was near closing time, and there was a decent line outside for in-person voting, though not the huge lines there have been earlier (though maybe those were earlier in the day.)

  7. 7.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Michael M. Grynbaum @grynbaum · 24m
    Programming note: Chris Christie, who is helping run Trump’s debate prep, will be an on-air analyst tonight on @ABC News.

  10. 10.

    debbie

    @Anne Laurie:

    I hate that the date of the tweet being commented on doesn’t show up. The word “feisty” is definitely not something in his current vocabulary. I wonder if Trump has called another man “nasty” yet?

  15. 15.

    Goku (Amerikan Baka)

    @Redshift:

    Congratulations! I can’t wait to start early in-person voting beginning 10/6.

    This is for anybody to answer: Apparently, in a Ohio early voting is only at the county BOE. I could’ve sworn that 5 or 6 years ago early voting was held in more than one location. Is that right?

  16. 16.

    PsiFighter37

    I refuse to watch it live. Will read a few comments / tweets before going to sleep, and will catch the worthy clips tomorrow morning. I hope Biden fucking knocks him down repeatedly. Treat him like Paul Ryan in 2012, but with even less respect.

  19. 19.

    Leto

    President* doesn’t shit his adult diapers on stage. Media: this is when Trumpov became president. 

    Joe doesn’t layout a 50 point process to do X  Media: not a great night for Biden.

    VDE!!!

  20. 20.

    Humanities Prof

    @Goku (Amerikan Baka): I don’t think so.  I think it’s always been this way.

    We’ve early-voted in every election since we moved to our current residence eight years ago, but we’ve always had to do it at the BoE.

  22. 22.

    Leto

    @Yutsano: I’m really happy that PA Dems were able to get ballot drop boxes secured and ready for this. Just waiting on my ballot and then BOOM! Voted! Awww yeah! :)

  23. 23.

    Goku (Amerikan Baka)

    @Yutsano:

    @Humanities Prof:

    I remember my original polling location was a branch of the county public library system. I guess I could be wrong. I never voted early before now except by absentee. My polling place has moved twice (not very far tbh) within the last 5 years, both churches after the library

  25. 25.

    Morzer

    File under: Things We Never Expected To Happen

    @BillKristol

    OMG—Now I’ve misplaced the debate questions I got in advance. I knew I should have straightened up my desk. . . . Whew. Found them. They were under the print out of today’s instructions from Mr. Soros.

  26. 26.

    Kathleen

    Also Buckeyes – the Democratic Party has endorsed Jennifer Brunner and John O’Donnell for Ohio Supreme Court in case you didn’t already know. We get sample ballots for all the endorsed judges running in the city, county and state.

  28. 28.

    PsiFighter37

    @Kathleen: Brunner was a very good SoS. Hope she wins.

    It is still hard to believe that Democrats controlled everything in Ohio after the state GOP imploded under Bob Taft in the mid-2000s. I don’t think something like that clean sweep will ever happen again.

  29. 29.

    zeecube

    I’ll be watching.  My drinking game tonight: Every time Trump says “China”, I have to take a sip of water using two hands.

  31. 31.

    WaterGirl

    I will record on Tivo and then start watching a bit late, so I can fast-forward through Trump and only watch the not-moderate moderator and Biden.

  34. 34.

    evap

    I voted today, in the special election to fill John Lewis’s seat for the rest of the term. There will almost certainly be a runoff — 7 candidates on the ballot — and the winner will end up serving for about 30 days. What an waste of money. But I got a chance to try out the new voter check-in and voting machines. These print out a paper ballot that you can check and the ballot is scanned. They keep the paper ballots so that they could do a hand count if necessary. And the poll workers don’t have to touch your id. I like it!

  36. 36.

    Zzyzx

    I am so terrified. Not because I think that Trump will be good but this is a situation where only bad things can happen really. I will watch but I don’t want to.

    My original plan was to order some comfort food to help but my new exciting plan is to just skip dinner and stress, because that’s completely healthy right!

  40. 40.

    Sloegin

    Yep, I’m gonna not watch the debate because it’ll be just like last time.  Biden will be prepared, Trump will waddle in and say all the stupid things he’s always said in every stump speech, no moderator will call him on his BS.  Debates are for people with different viewpoints willing to argue rationally.

  43. 43.

    WaterGirl

    Does anyone know why C-SPAN comes up as starting an hour before debate time?  Do they do a pre-show?  If so, would that be people calling in?  ugh.

  44. 44.

    Falling Diphthong

    @JMG:

    CBS asked voters who said they were going to watch the debate why they were. Like 75 percent said it was to watch their preferred candidate perform.

    It’s Dancing with the Stars. My guy was brilliant; yours was a disaster. Closer to the conventions (building party esprit de corps through a shared experience) than comparing position papers.

  46. 46.

    WaterGirl

    I hope Joe and the other guy are positioned REALLY far apart, because if not, I think Trump will make a big display of intimidation by coming over to shake Biden’s hand and do the dominant handshake thing, even though it’s agreed that they will not shake hands or do elbow bumps.

    I am thinking Trump will do it anyway as an intimidation move to make Biden look weak.  He’s such a petty man.

  49. 49.

    Calouste

    @WaterGirl: In that case, Joe should just say “Hey Donald, can’t you remember the agreements for this debate?” In general, “can’t you remember “ or something along those lines should be his go-to option whenever the shitgibbon spews out a lie.

  52. 52.

    Kathleen

    @PsiFighter37: Brunner was great! She handled the first Presidential election after the 2004 fiasco and was meticulous.

    We have a reprise of state Republican scandal. Don’t know if that will translate into Dem votes for the state Senate and Legislature.

  53. 53.

    trollhattan

    @What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?:

    Case Western Reserve was recruiting the kid and after I researched it a bit suggested she give it a look, being pre-med and all it looked like a great fit. She decided not to, which dad thinks wasn’t the bestest choice but TBH winters on Lake Erie would have been a REAL challenge to a California kid.

  55. 55.

    randy khan

    @Goku (Amerikan Baka):

    Sure sounds like a conflict of interest to me

    Or Christie’s chance to get sweet, sweet revenge.  (No, I don’t imagine that will happen – he clearly does not have the guts to do it.  But it would be glorious.  “And on the Republican side, Chris Christie.”  “Tonight, my name is Inigo Montoya. Donald Trump, you killed my campaign. Prepare to die.”)

  63. 63.

    Adam L Silverman

    @JMG: There’s a reason they double upped the Stanley Cup finals games on Friday and Saturday nights. Had they stuck with the regular scheduling they’d been using, a game every other night, game 5, which was played last night and was the last game in the series, would’ve been played tonight.

  64. 64.

    aliasofwestgate

    I just got my birth certificate and i’ll be able to get my official Wisconsin ID next week after roomie is done working and we make our trip to the DMV on monday or tuesday. I’ll have ot make the appointment prolly friday night. but once that’s on the way, i’m good and we’ll be voting early on Oct 20th or just after. That’s our basic plan, and if absolutely need be, we can vote in person on Nov 3rd. We’re both young enough and prepared with masks and whatnot to do so.  Having to get a new birth certificate was the most harrowing thing because waiting on it to ship took FOREVER.  Almost a solid month for them to track the damned thing down too. I also have plans to get a new passport next year, because we WILL be able to travel overseas again. i know it.  I have plans to go to japan in 2022 if possible with a group of friends.

  70. 70.

    Quinerly

    @Baud: but is he really Joe? Read earlier today that QAnon supporters thought during the primary debates that Biden’s earlobes were proof that he had somehow been cloned or replaced with a body double for those debates. Hmmmm….. ?

  71. 71.

    Sab

    @Goku (Amerikan Baka): Not in my county (Summit.) Back in 2004 the BOE rented out a huge space in a dead retail space with plenty of parking. Next time the moved it back to the BOE building.

    Since Ohio has dems and repubs equal on the BOEs, the Sec of State as tiebreaker pretty much can decide what the local BOEs can do.

  75. 75.

    Adam L Silverman

    I’m one of the political scientists they interviewed!

  77. 77.

    Skepticat

    The fog cleared momentarily, and the moon looks full, though I know it’s not quite there. How apropos is a full moon tonight?

  87. 87.

    Marcopolo

    This is perfect: Maddow interviewing HRC on what to expect at the debate tonight!

    They kicked it off w/ her prescient responses to Trump from the first debate in 2016.

  89. 89.

    Adam L Silverman

    @WaterGirl: They are and they’ve moved it to C-Span 2 because they’re covering a House vote on a resolution to take a sense of the House on the peaceful transition of power.

  90. 90.

    WaterGirl

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Key to successful debate performance by Donald Trump is not continually sniffing in the fashion of an adderall pill-crushing monkey, according to leading political scientists.

    I just wanted to see the again, without the distraction of his face.

  93. 93.

    Sab

    @Goku (Amerikan Baka): In Ohio they have really cut down on the number of voting places on election day, and they keep moving them around. My parents voted for forty years at the same elementary school on the next block from their house. Since 2010 the election day voting spot has changed every two years and is usually at least 4 miles away in unfamiliar neighborhoods. Same for me. My husband has lived in our same neighborhood for 35 years, and voted at the same church about a mile up the hill until 2010, when voting spot changed every two years to a spot miles away in an unfamiliar neighborhood.

    On a more cheerful note, when I absentee voted in college in 1972 I had to get my signatue notarized on the ballot envelope. Don’t need to do that any more.

  95. 95.

    sdhays

    @Immanentize: I doubt it’s very useful, even when he bothers. I can’t imagine anyone helping with his debate prep actually being anything other than the caricature of Biden that makes Dump feel safe. Anything else could risk a tantrum and Dump’s feeling getting hurt.

  102. 102.

    Aleta

    Trump on a cliff notes:  The Rioter Party is setting fire to our gates.  Prayer is hanging by a thread.   Babies.  Brave heterosexual men in uniform thanking Trump.   $100 coupon for drugs in the mail to every old person, in two weeks.    Together, Trump alone rescued millions from foreign viral hoax.  Our Beautiful American Rights.  Faith not fear.  Evil lies, all around us.

  104. 104.

    dmsilev

    @Adam L Silverman: Well, I could imagine Trump walking(*) over to Biden at the beginning to do a dominance handshake thing.

    (*) Autocorrect wanted ‘whaling’ for some reason, perhaps Apple somehow got its hands on Trump’s actual BMI and body-fat numbers.

  105. 105.

    Patricia Kayden

    To Trump:
    1. What comics would you like to read in jail?
    2. How did you squander the $400 million your Dad gave you?
    3. Which country will you try to run to when you lose the election?

    OK let's say you're the moderator what are your first three questions— Jeff Stein (@JStein_WaPo) September 29, 2020

  107. 107.

    Adam L Silverman

    @WaterGirl: They may have swapped it back, so you may want to set both. I find that what C-Span says it is broadcasting and what it is broadcasting are not always the same thing.

  110. 110.

    L85NJGT

    @Baud:

    Using Chris Christie as a verbal punching bag isn’t really debate prep…..

    …and why did they settle on that guy for a Biden stand-in?

  116. 116.

    WaterGirl

    @Adam L Silverman: Like a non-binding house resolution that says we need a peaceful transition of power in a fucking democracy is going to help.  Once you get to the point where you have to say that, I think you have lost half the battle.

    I do not see the point.

  117. 117.

    Jean

    Did anyone hear Nicole Wallace spend time praising Howard Baker during her 2 hour slot?  She was interviewing the author of The Man Who Ran Washington.  She loved the guy.  Made me wonder when she’ll return to her Republican roots.

  118. 118.

    zhena gogolia

    @MomSense:

    they just asked if it was true that he wanted Ivanka to be his running mate, and he said, “Not running mate. I wanted her to be my mate.”

    He’s just ad-libbing and he is cracking me up.

  119. 119.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @L85NJGT: yup, whenever Nicole Wallace starts talking about having  “a source close to trump” or the campaign, I think, I wonder if Christie stuck her with the lunch tab

  120. 120.

    guachi

    I’m not even certain I want to watch liveblogs of this debate. You guys are made of heartier stuff than I am.

  122. 122.

    Butter Emails

    @Marcopolo: 

    Fake news! Nicole did say that despite Trump’s remarks he’s not doing much that her sources in the WH say he is doing a fair amount of debate prep.

    I believe that Fox news repeatedly showed the debate topics and spewed related talking points about them over the last couple of days. Perhaps that was the debate prep.

  123. 123.

    TS (the original)

    Late to the thread

    1. I see Biden knows how an umbrella works
    2. Flash cards – they are using flash card to teach Trump. I used flashcards when my daughter was 3 to teach her to read.
  124. 124.

    WaterGirl

    @Adam L Silverman: I went to the regular CSPAN channel, and it was the house vote on the resolution.  I went to CSPAN 2, and it had a counters that said debate starts in 25 minutes.  (10 minutes ago)  So I set that manually to record from 7:55 to 10 pm.

    But no, I did not delete the other recording because I am a belts and suspenders kind of girl.

  128. 128.

    Ruckus

    @trollhattan:

    This west coast boy spent too much of a winter north of Chicago in 1970, at Great Lakes Naval Training Center. I’m not averse to snow and cold, and it still sucked donkey balls. Maybe the exact location had something to do with it. One good event was the release of Mash, the movie. The lifers didn’t want it shown but the base commander said “It’s the army, what do I care if it makes fun of them?” The lifers hated it, the swabs loved it.

  129. 129.

    geg6

    So we have our first COVID case on campus.  Ten students quarantined from contact tracing.  Which gives me some faith in the random testing and contact tracing the university is doing.  At our small campus, that’s a big hole in the student body on campus.  Due to so many classes being online or hybrid, student traffic on campus is sparse, so it will be noticed because only a few were commuters.  Most of them lived in on campus housing.  Could be worse, I guess.  Our Altoona and University Park (what everyone calls main campus) campuses are spiking.  And it is probably related because Altoona is so close to State College that students at both campuses are always going back and forth for parties and others events.  Cross pollinating, if you will.

  131. 131.

    WaterGirl

    They showed the audience for the debate, and people were sitting right next to one another – I don’t see much distancing going on.  Even with masks, that is not safe.

  134. 134.

    Sab

    @trollhattan: I went to Case for grad school. The lake effect is real. It snows a lot in Cleveland. I even saw a thunder snow storm once.

    I love Cleveland. University Circle especially. All those museums and Severance Hall (Cleveland Orchestra). Excellent not too expensive restaurants everywhere that you can get a reservation for on the same day.

    Plus a Great Lake nearby.

  135. 135.

    Burnspbesq

    @JMG:

    Too lazy even to click over to ESPN.

    Speaking of con artists, Spurs – Chelsea is streaming on the ESPN app. Trump could learn a few things from Jose Mourinho’s pre-match protestations of woe.

  136. 136.

    Kathleen

    @Quinerly: I have family roots in Cleveland. My grandfather immigrated from Ireland (he came through Baltimore) he and his siblings ended up in Cleveland. I don’t know how long he lived there. I do believe he enlisted in the Army during WWI in Cleveland.

  144. 144.

    Kay

    They made a list of more than 30 celebrities including Justin Timberlake, Taylor Swift and Billy Joel to appear in their ad campaign to “inspire hope” about coronavirus, but they ended up with only Dennis Quaid, CeCe Winans and Hasidic singer Shulem Lemmer.
    The health department’s $300 million-plus, taxpayer-funded vehicle to boost confidence in President Donald Trump’s response to the pandemic is sputtering. Celebrities are refusing to participate, and staff are arraying against it. Some complain of the unstated aim of helping Trump’s re-election. Others point to an ill-prepared video team and a 22-year-old political appointee who has repeatedly asserted control despite having no public health expertise, according to six people with close knowledge of the campaign and documents related to its operations.

    300 million dollars.

  147. 147.

    Kathleen

    @Sab: Yup.  In the past 30+ years I’ve lived in 3 places all within blocks of each other. My polling place has changed a lot, which is one of the reasons I like early voting. My State Senator and State Rep both changed because of gerrymandering and I didn’t realize it until I voted in a primary and saw “my candidate” was not on the ballot.

  148. 148.

    L85NJGT

    @Morzer:

    Between him and Giuliani, it’s like a particularly bleak episode of the Sopranos.  The boss knows his capos have flipped and are wearing wires, but would rather not be alone.

  151. 151.

    Sab

    @Ruckus: I went to see MASH the movie with my dad ( Korean War doctor vet.) He laughed so loud and so often it was embarrassing to be in the theater with him. And he was not usually an outgoing type of guy.

  153. 153.

    Quinerly

    @Jean: James Baker.

    I guess you heard the part about James Baker rubbing GHWB’s feet a few hours before he died. Baker hates Trump but still voting for him because of….. JUDGES.

  162. 162.

    Adam L Silverman

    Good start by Biden. He said “how are you, man?” Not “how are you, Mr. President?” Well done!

  163. 163.

    Jean

    @Quinerly: yes, I heard that part, and of course, Baker, who is 90, is voting for Trump because Baker is a REPUBLICAN.  Guess he hasn’t figured out that there are no Republicans, only Trumpists.

    It was a weird segment, and Nicole was very smiley and flattering.

  164. 164.

    Marcopolo

    @Quinerly: What I read is Baker said Trump is nuts & he wouldn’t endorse him.  And not that he was voting for Trump but that he wasn’t voting for Biden.  The implication being he wouldn’t vote period.

    Edited to add:  Oops I’m wrong. Guess I was thinking of something else I read.

  165. 165.

    Jay Noble

    Back in the 90’s when I was in  Lincoln, the 1st polling place was a rec enter just across the alley. The second was a an elementary school maybe six blocks away. But I got a chuckle. The elementary schoool was just across the street from the governors mansion. Wheh they changed the polling places, the Governor had to traipse about 6 blocks too. :-)

  167. 167.

    Sab

    @Kathleen: I live in Akron in a smallish (300) housing development up against our biggest metropark. It has a street encircling it, with other streets inside. The outer side of the encircling street is in a different Congressional district from everyone else. They have Marcia Fudge. We have Tim Ryan.

    Marcia Fudge lives in Warrensville Heights up on Lake Erie 35 miles away. Tim Ryan lives in Warren on the PA border also 35 miles away. We are the fifth largest city in the state yet our Congresscritters don’t live here.

    Otherwise they have been good reps. ( Marcia better than Tim.) He has really cleaned up his act since Pelosi politely handed him his head on a platter during impeachment. Also too he married a teacher and has tiny kids now, so gun violence in schools and the Covid mess are real to him now.

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