Did you watch the debates? The first Trump/Biden debate turned into a yelling match between the two candidates and the moderator. It was referred to as a “Shit show”, by one of the political commentators. Then last night, we had the Vice Presidential debate between Mike Pence and Kamala Harris. Not as fiery of an exchange, but a solid exchange none-the-less.

I’m about six days into a 30 day ban on Facebook, (UNJUSTLY ACCUSED, I might add), but I have been reading the responses posted and watching the commentary of it. Outside of the obvious, the descriptions of Trump being a “bully” and Pence being accused of mansplaining, the fly landing on Pences head has prompted the most memes. I knew it would. The moment I saw it I knew it would garner the most attention on social media.

The candidates covered a lot of topics, but did anyone notice how they talked to the public when they looked into the camera? It’s customary for candidates to do that; look into the camera and say something that will connect with their constituents. But if you watch the debates, and I watched both; twice, back to back the same night, the facial expressions, mannerisms, tones of voice, etc. between the candidates were vastly different. Almost like they were talking to two totally different types of people.

Both Trump and Pence, spoke to the camera, brows fixed, eyes centered, very concise and specific; firm. Like they were describing, “just the facts”. Some may describe it as watching cardboard talk. Resolute in the words that were coming out of their mouths; they believe what they’re saying is true. Now you can argue with the fact checkers on the accuracy of what they said, I’m just saying based on what I saw, they actually believe what they are saying is true; and they are speaking from a position of authority on the subjects: confident.

Harris and Biden spoke a bit differently. Biden really wanted to use the brief time he had to “connect” to the voters. His tone of voice changed, he attempted to compose himself, he wanted to appeal to the voters. Classic use of hands to assist the words coming out of his mouth. But very…out of the box? Typical candidate jargon? Looking to appeal to the emotion and feelings of those who were watching. Harris, interested me the most. I’ve seen the debates of the other candidates; but Harris, she was new, and I hadn’t seen enough of her in clips to really get a grasp of how she behaved when she talked.

Personally, I don’t think she has much debate experience. Definitely not enough to go head to head with the likes of Pence. Pence legit had Harris shook on a few occasions. Where, her only retort was to overtly smile and force out a laugh. But when It came to her appeal to the camera, it was her tone and words that I actually found to be the most condescending and offensive. (Now STOP. Before you even attempt to claim I felt that way because she’s a woman, understand me when I say: That is absolutely, Positively, NOT it. I love strong women that are a force to be reckoned with in a debate. Everyone who knows me, knows that. But because of that, I can see the flaws in a delivery.) Which is why when she looked at the camera, all smiles, bubbling with expression, and she said, “And just so everyone is clear, when we say in debt it means you owe money to somebody”. Really? Who in her constituency doesn’t know what debt is?

“Got to be loyal to your friends. People who have stood with you, got to stand with them. You got to know who your adversaries are, and keep them in check.”

“and you know what a bounty is? Somebody puts a price on your head, and they will pay it if you are killed.”

“That means that there will be no protections, if they win, for people with pre-existing conditions. This means that over 20 million people will lose their coverage. It means that if you’re under the age of 26, you can’t be on your parents coverage anymore.”

“Please vote, vote early, come up with a plan to vote, go to IWillVote.com. You can also go to Joe Biden.com.”

Look at her facial expressions, mannerisms, tone of voice when she says those lines…who is she talking to, children? Am I the only one who doesn’t appreciate her condescending tone when she attempts to explain what debt is? I mean, Pence got hammered for his supposed mansplaining, but what do you call what Kamala did? Pence never did anything even remotely close to that. And I can’t help but wonder, if Kamala and Biden feel the need to dumb things down for their constituents, what exactly are they saying?

When they can stand there and claim they won’t end fracking, even though, there are copious clips of videos showing that they’ll say they’ll do just that.

When they can prey on the ignorance of their constituents and perpetuate the lie that Trump only paid $750 in taxes; knowing that most people are unaware of corporate tax laws or pass-throughs. 

Blatantly perpetuating the false narrative of wHiTe sUpReMaCiStS.

One can only ask: Do they think people are stupid? Do they consider Americans stupid? I mean, obviously they think their constituents are stupid; otherwise why would they talk to them that way? Call me crazy, but if you’re paying attention, the candidates are definitely talking to two very distinct, very different Americas. One that accepts talking points and narratives to immediately parrot; and one that questions and does not buy into narratives. One that claims to believe in science…but doesn’t actually question the science. Which, when you think about it, is fundamentally the total opposite of what science is.

So I see a split in the approach and delivery between the two pairs of candidates. We have the Trump/Pence ticket that appeals to the logical/reason base of the populace; and we have the Biden/Harris ticket that appeals to the emotional/feelings base of the populace. Two sides of America that, in spite of all that is said about them, truly make this country great. I would hope, that in the future, there will be a common ground to unite the two. My fear is that may only be achieved through another civil war. I pray I’m wrong.

Copyright©2020 Jacob C. Larson All Rights Reserved

***You can find the transcript to the Pence/Harris debate: HERE.It is not a full transcript of the debate. I found pieces that were missing. But most of it is there. You can also find the Youtube video of the Pence/Harris debate: HERE.