Editor’s Note: Views represented in this article do not directly represent the views of The Panther Eye, the Sweet Home Central School District or any of its affiliates.

Tonight, I am going to watch the final Presidential Debate between former Vice President Joe Biden, and President Donald Trump. It will be moderated by NBC’s Kristen Welker.

The Prediction

I will start by making my predictions. I think Donald Trump knows that his strategy of attempting to frazzle Biden in the last debate did not work. He came off looking like a bully, especially when he said, “Don’t ever use the word smart with me.” Because of this, Donald Trump will try and remain much more calm, and that will improve his performance in this debate. 

With Biden, his main problem in the last debate was that he did get a bit overwhelmed by Trump’s interruptions. This was best shown when he said, “Would you just shut up, man?” Tonight, Biden will likely try to just ignore Trump’s interruptions, and try to remain calm for the entire time.

However, the biggest mistake of all with regard to the first debate was Chris Wallace’s performance. He lost his temper multiple times, at one point yelling at the candidates. He could not effectively control them. Knowing this, the Commission on Presidential Debates has added the ability to mute the microphones of the candidates. This leads me to believe that this debate will be at least a bit more watchable than the first one.

Now, let’s talk about the stakes.

Joe Biden is leading in every general election poll according to RCP, and he’s not just leading, he’s leading big. He is far more ahead than Hillary Clinton was at this same point. This means that Biden doesn’t have to win, he just needs to not lose. For Trump, this may be his last chance to save his chances at reelection, and even then, if he has an outstanding performance, it is already too late for millions of voters who have already cast their ballots.

That said, let’s get into this.

The Analysis

After watching that, I am quite honestly impressed. It was civil, the muting microphone rule worked great, and there were no massive failures on either side.

Now, let’s address something first. It was very close. Each person made their own case quite well and attacked the other effectively, especially considering both of the recent reports that hurt both of them. 

Biden’s main strategy was to remain calm, attack Trump on the things he’s done wrong, and get in a few one liners. Trump’s strategy was to make his case for why he has been a successful president, why Joe Biden would be a bad president, and most noticeably, to remain calm as well. 

In my opinion, Trump had a better strategy, but Biden had a better performance. Trump was on the defense more often than not, which made it very difficult for him to really have a great performance. 

I think that Trump’s best point of the night was when he brought up Biden’s corruption. I support Biden, but he definitely is a corrupt politician. (To be clear, so is Trump.) His best one liner was, “Nancy doesn’t want to approve anything, because she’d love to have some victories on a special date that is November 3rd.”

Biden’s best point of the night was when he attacked Trump for being best buddies with Wall Street, and that he thinks the stock is the only measure of the economy. His best one liner was, “Abraham Lincoln over here is one of the most racist presidents we’ve ever had,” and also “This guy has a dog whistle that’s about as big as a foghorn.”

In conclusion, Trump improved his performance drastically from last time, but he didn’t get the outstanding victory that he needed. Joe Biden walked into this debate in the lead, and he came out in the lead. I don’t think that the polls will change much after this debate, but it sure brought back my confidence that we are still able to have civil political discussions.

Ryan Burke

Ryan Burke is a sophomore at Sweet Home High School, and a former Co-Editor of the Panther Press Viewpoints Section. He is on the swim team, and likes to write about current news and events.