Who won the final Presidential debate?

[Alben Barkley]

Last time, I thought Trump lost more than Biden won.

This time, it was an outright Biden win.

[Alben Barkley]

In my opinion, Trump.

I am shocked. SHOCKED!

[Alben Barkley]

I still can’t believe this exchange actually happened:

Trump:

Who the hell are you?

Joe Biden:

You know. You all know exactly who I am. Say my name.

Trump:

Do what? I don't... I don't have a damn clue who the hell you are.

Joe Biden:

Yeah, you do. I'm the Veep. I'm the man who beat Bernie Sanders.

Trump:

Bulls—t. Media got Sanders.

Joe Biden:

Are you sure? [Trump looks at Kamala and Kamala shakes her head.] That's right. Now, say my name.

Trump:

[quietly] Diamond Joe.

Joe Biden:

You're goddamn right.

[Alben Barkley]

This thread is just “Which candidate do I support?”

Wrong.

I couldn’t loathe Trump more.

But the debate was Tilt Trump till the end when Biden coughed it up on the Oil comment.

Yeah, the real question is “Which candidate do I support, unless I’m a self-loathing hysterical doomer?”

[Alben Barkley]

I don’t think anyone will care about the oil thing. I really don’t. Even in Texas, I don’t think a lot of people who disagree that we need to transition away from oil eventually (all he said) were ever gonna vote for a Democrat anyway.

[Alben Barkley]

I weirdly enough saw a lot of Trump in Biden tonight. The "lies" "wrong," and "Your running against Me, I defeated those other guys" are all statements that would be at home coming out of Trumps mouth. I think that put Trump on awkward footing at times. It may lead to surprises whenever the instant polls come out.

He did some of that last time too: “I AM THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY!” and “Will you shut up, man?” notably. But he does it in a less nasty way and with less frequency. It makes him seem tough enough but without coming across as a mean-spirited bully.

[Alben Barkley]

I think Biden, but I very hate the oil soundbite and how it's going to be played for 12 days

How badly do you think that remark will hurt him in the Houston metro/texas in general?

A lot of Texas has already voted.

as someone who owns part of an oil ranch...and already voted for Joe...

Idk! I think we'll be getting some ads out of it here. I'm trying to think of who it is in Texas that would hear the line and think "Hmmm...well I was voting Joe, but..."

My big thought would be that the Houston economy was looking bad when Covid came...then oil dove in May...and we still aren't sure. I guess I could see some people hating the uncertainty. On the other hand, I (and others!) should like the idea of transitioning away from an economy that oscillates so, so much.

Sam Elliott narrated an ad for Biden already though. Shouldn’t that have locked down Texas for him???

Willie Nelson also endorsed him and held fundraisers! (Wasn’t enough for Beto, granted, but close!)

[Alben Barkley]

but I mean also Trump will probably change the news cycle by monday so

The 60 Minutes interview airs Sunday night so yeah. Ticking time bomb for Trump.

[Alben Barkley]

Really happy to be wrong about post-debate polls, just waiting for CNN to confirm.

CNN: 53% Joe 39% Don

CNN focus group in North Carolina: all said Biden won.

An interesting divergence from the Ohio one.

I saw this too.

Pretty bad cause Trump NEEDS to win North Carolina.

[Alben Barkley]

I literally do not understand people who think Trump won. We must have been watching debates. "Not making QUITE as much of a fool of himself as last time" does not, in fact, constitute a "win."

[Alben Barkley]

I think with Trump under the threat of being muted, Biden had space to make his positions clear.

Biden was quite good.

Trump however did handle the "Paris Accord' stuff well.

Why should the USA sign up for reductions in industrial activity when China, India and Russia do not stop polluting until 2030?

Trump did get that point across well.

Trump is more feisty, but clearly, Biden is more 'Presidential' in a traditional sense.

I think the race has tightened, but I cannot escape the COVID-19 infection at the point where Trump lost it.

Even if Trump won the debate, it's too little, too late.

"My neighbor is killing children, so why shouldn't I too? Children are going to be killed either way, after all."

(This is almost literally what you're saying, by the way.)

[Alben Barkley]

I literally do not understand people who think Trump won. We must have been watching debates. "Not making QUITE as much of a fool of himself as last time" does not, in fact, constitute a "win."

Well On how it relates to the election yah Biden will still win, but on pure debate terms every topic was basically a tie except the economy and energy which Trump win

I STRONGLY disagree. "Wind kills birds." What? Trump was flat-out objectively wrong in just about everything he said in those sections. And/or incoherent. And the rest of the debate, Biden spanked him. ESPECIALLY on COVID and healthcare, you know, the most important topics of the election.

[Alben Barkley]

YouGov, DFP, and CNN all found Biden leading by double digits in post-debate polls:

https://twitter.com/mattmfm/status/1319496648893095937?s=20

Doomers will probably say it's not as big a lead as the last one (although not actually the case for the YouGov one at least), but:

1. It's still a sizable, double digit lead.

2. It matches up pretty well with what the horse race numbers are, which is terrible for Trump.

3. It sure as hell means Trump's not going to get any sort of boost from this. Everybody is entrenched at this point.