5 takeaways from the presidential debate

So what did we learn from Tuesday night’s televised presidential debate?

Not a whole lot.

In a debate that figures to be remembered mostly for how much President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden insulted and talked over each other, what the candidates didn’t say and the opportunities they missed to win over undecided voters spoke volumes, according to political experts who offered their post-debate analysis to the Tribune-Review.

Here are 5 takeaways from the debate.

No clear winner

“There were errors on both sides. Neither side lost much, neither side gained much. I cannot see a clear winner in this debate. Both sides failed to show they had the best interests of the voter in mind,” said Joseph DiSarro, a political science professor at Washington & Jefferson College.

DiSarro, a Republican state committeeman, said he felt both candidates chose to focus on appealing to their base voters rather than ones whose minds aren’t made up yet. He said polling so far has shown 6% to 11% of likely voters remain undecided.

“It’s only a small percentage of voters that are up for grabs. However, those voters figure to make all the difference, particularly in battleground states such as Pennsylvania,” DiSarro said.

DiSarro said he felt Trump scored points on some of his answers about economic and law enforcement issues, while Biden won on health care.

Insult politics

Where to begin? Biden called Trump a “clown” at one point and told the president to “shut up, man,” at another. Trump said there was “nothing smart” about Biden, adding that the former vice president “graduated either the lowest or almost the lowest in your class.” He also took personal shots at Biden’s son, Hunter.

“It was jaw-dropping, but really, for all of the hand-wringing of the expert talking heads, did anyone expect it to go differently?” said Philip Harold, a political science professor at Robert Morris University. “I don’t really know that some polite exchange of ideas is really where we’re at as a country right now.”

Moderator Chris Wallace chided both candidates for interrupting each other, but pinned most of the blame on Trump.

“Trump’s strategy is always to be the alpha, always be the dominant force. Imagine if he was polite. What would the headlines have said? ‘Biden shines.’ Trump was not going to let that happen,” Harold said.

So in that regard, despite the criticism for routinely interrupting Biden, Harold said, “Trump was winning by losing.”

Pennsylvania front and center

Pennsylvania factored prominently into the debate, being mentioned by the candidates several times.

Trump criticized Democratic governors in states such as Pennsylvania for what he said was their slow pace of reopening the economy during the pandemic. He referenced a case of discarded military ballots in Luzerne County as an example of what could go wrong in November’s election. He said “bad things happen in Philadelphia” because “poll watchers … were thrown out” of what he called, in tweet earlier on Tuesday, “voting places.” But a Philadelphia county official said the individuals were asked to leave a Satellite Office of the Board of Election because they are open only for voter services for registration, absentee and mail-in ballots.

Biden, as he does most times he gets in front of a microphone, referenced his working-class Scranton roots.

“The person who wins Pennsylvania will win the election,” DiSarro said.

No major gaffes

“There were no major gaffes that will sway the outcome of this election in one way or the other. Biden was wobbly at times, but he came out and did what he needed to do. And Trump kept the debate from being all about Biden,” Harold said.

Left unsaid

While the debate figures to be remembered mostly for all the interrupting and vitriol, what was left unsaid could come back to haunt each of the candidates, according to DiSarro and Harold.

In particular, they said, Trump failed to fully denounce white supremacy when directly asked by Wallace to do so and his comment, “Stand back and stand by,” gained support from the very group he was asked to denounce, the Proud Boys. Biden, for his part, failed to fully address concerns that Democrats would attempt to stack federal courts with appointees should he win the White House.

“What wasn’t said clearly was far more significant than what was said,” DiSarro said.