Machiavellian said:
EricHiggin said:
Unless those undecided aren't paying attention at all, in which case they may get a bad taste for Trump, they'll see it's something the media has brought up again though he's already clarified it. If you're someone who thinks the candidates need to constantly be asked the same thing over and over, then your just asking for poor results. The more questions you don't repeat when properly answered, the more questions you can get out, which is much more useful if you actually care about what the candidates are planning. If all you want are gotcha moments, then sure, ask, rinse, and repeat.
The way the question was asked was like how it was spun last time when he properly explained it. Anyone who takes any time at all will see it legitimately fits Trumps fake news narrative, and I'd bet Trumps people assume if you're not someone who's willing to be open and do a little research, you're the kind of person who will likely side with Biden anyway. People don't only care about what was said on national TV as you point out, that most of the media is running the supremacy story? Why? To further explain why it's a bad thing to those undecided voters. If those undecided voters only pay attention to that anyway, they were going to get spin from the media afterwards regardless. If they're not locked into the msm bubble, they'll see Trumps already gone against this and that the media is just after him for it again for no legitimate reason.
Trump has 3 debates, and he knows he doesn't need to cater to the undecided the entire time. He got away with the same thing with Hillary, though I do think he needs to perform better this time overall. It was also seen as though Hillary stomped Trump in the first debate, but by the last debate he clearly had made up for it. If he's doing what he did last time like I think he might, the next debate will be catered more to the undecided, and the final will be catered majority to the undecided. Trumps doing the checkbox thing and he got at least some of what he wanted in the first debate. He'll move on to the rest of the checklist for the rest of the debates unless he's not strategizing at all, which is quite unlikely. He's partially winging it as Trump does, which explains some of his poorer responses, but there looks to be an underlying strategy here. Whether there truly is or isn't, and whether it works or not by the end, we'll see.
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The thing is Trump has many different answers to this question that can be played multiple times. Since he never stick to one concise statement it will just show him trying to play the middle. The thing is when giving the opportunity he not only did not condemn them but he also have that statement "Standby". That will be the slogan used countless times especially since he has told him followers to go to polls looking for suspicious people and other nonsense. As political strategy goes, he doesn't have to convince his base, playing to just his base does not get him reelected. We can argue this point but lets see how things shake out in the next few weeks. After the debate no polls changed so that was a wash but for Biden any wash is great. Now that Trump has CORVID, there will be no 3 debates so that was fortunate for the President in my opinion.
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Well "standby" in general just means be ready. If Trump told the military to stand by, after mentioning some other nation was the threat, it would clearly mean just be prepared to defend the country. That in no way means be aggressive and cause violence, it means only be violent if we're attacked. His Proud Boys statement at the debate meant the same thing. If you want to think it meant go cause trouble, then I think you don't understand the language all that well, especially Trumps use of it here, or I'd guess you're being dishonest. (You in general, not you in particular fyi). While that could mean if the radical left caused violence, the right could fight back, I wouldn't see the problem there either. The President isn't going to tell the people, 'if you get attacked or feel the need to defend yourself, don't resort to violence, just take a beating and die if you have to'. Imagine if he gave that order to the troops. The right to defend yourself is a big deal period, especially in America.
The covid thing could be really detrimental to Trumps campaign, if it hits him really hard. His rallies will be over for good, no more debates, and the media will run covid all day long and tie it to Trumps handling of it and his illness now and it'll hurt his campaign "bigly". Also, if he's somehow faking it as some people are conspiracy theorizing (unlikely, but maybe), it could very well be because his campaign thinks they're screwed, and this would be the perfect excuse as to why they end up losing the election. Trump definitely would want a legit reasonable excuse for why he lost. He won't wanna be seen as whining and making up some bogus claim if it came to that. 'I lost because China gave me covid'. I could totally see it if it came to pass. Would that be the truth though?
Now if he's really got it, or faking it, this could also work heavily in his favor as well. If he's well soon, he could still have enough rallies, but will they still have the debates? Would they push the dates back a bit if needed? Will Biden back out? Would Trump use that against Biden? One thing that seems to be agreed on by both sides, is Trump faltered in the covid part of the debate, and may not be able to do much better going forward. Well what if Trump get's covid and it's no big deal for him? The left loves to point out that whites shouldn't talk about racism because they aren't black, hispanic, etc, or men shouldn't talk about woman's rights because they aren't female, etc. Well how's the left and Biden going to combat Trump and covid if Trump easily beats it, considering he'll now have first hand knowledge due to being a victim of it? No doubt Trump would also use this to say he was mostly right about how this wasn't near as deadly as suggested and that the lockdown's were way to harsh and a handled poorly by the Dem states and cities. The media likes to say he's old and unhealthy, so if he easily beats it, he can seemingly prove them wrong. The media and Dems will have a hard time justifying the lock down's if Trump walks away mostly unscathed by covid. Trump could even blame his initial debate performance on covid if they think he may have had it then.
I could go on, because there's so many plays that could be made with this. Hopefully he and his wife pull through and are able to finish the election. Thank God Biden didn't test positive. That would've opened up a whole nother can of worms.
Last edited by EricHiggin - on 02 October 2020