Baldwin: Debate Critique

By Jerry Baldwin

Where Trump failed last night, and has failed his entire Presidency, is the same way candidates right of center always fail: he assumed that all voters are as informed as those who have already committed to vote for him.

He fails to realize that candidates must spoon feed the same information over and over to the electorate. The left knows this, and they own the media and do a great job of getting out their narrative whether it’s true or not.

For example: most Trump voters already know that he isn’t “racist” nor was he “pandering to white supremacists,” or “standing with and giving orders to the Proud Boys” when he responded to Chris Wallace’s question about Charlottesville. Those claims are absurd; yet, I’ll bet you’re seeing them repeated by your left-leaning friends today, aren’t you?

Most Trump supporters actually listened to his entire speech about the travesty in Charlottesville when it happened, and because they did, they know that he already denounced white supremacists participation in that “rally.” They know he’s done so again and again, many times over, and understand how frustrated he could be with that question.

When Chris Wallace put him on the spot, again, he got annoyed, and then allowed himself to get sidetracked because the same question was not being asked of Biden. Biden has been complicit as left leaning rioters have vandalized and burned cities and attacked and even shot Law Enforcement officers and citizens. Still Trump should have been ready for that question and his response should have been clearer. He should have stated yet again that any activity by any hate group would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. He should have specifically mentioned Neo-Nazi/WS groups in addition to Antifa and others instead of sarcastically saying “what [else] do you want me to say?”

Spoon feeding is necessary, because that’s what the left does. They repeat the same thing over and over and over until people believe it. But instead, he became frustrated by the question, which required him to answer yet again for a “crime he did not commit.” He assumes people are smart enough to know that he isn’t racist, and his policies have reflected that fact.

I’m not a minority, so I can’t speak to whether or not their community is any better off because of the fact that his administration has created more jobs for them than ever before, or for the millions he’s given to HBCUs. Yet, those are the facts.

President Trump, this election is important, and I know you understand the stakes which is why you fight so hard for us. Heck, you’re willing to beat up a mindless old fool while millions watched, because you know what a sh%t job he’d do as President. Please redirect that energy into making sure you are clear when you speak. Take the time to explain yourself, every time, even if the press asks you a question you feel you’ve already answered. Don’t assume we (the electorate) are smart. Repeat yourself as often as you need to, just as I’ve done here several times. Assume we all have the mental capacity of Sleepy Joe, or at least, the “smarts” he used to possess.

If Biden refuses the next debate, that’s fine — Trump can pre-record soft spoken responses to the most common “when did you stop beating your wife” kind of questions … which would summarily be lost or buried. That’s my rant for today. I pray my sarcastic tone meets with your general understanding.

Jerry Baldwin is former chairman of the Chesterfield County Republican Committee.