I respectfully dissent. Trump's behavior was predictable. What we saw is what he has always been. But the format revealed how diminished Joe Biden had become. That is valuable information. To me as a Never-Trumper, it was very bad news, but if the point of the session was to let us see the candidates, we cannot complain that we saw the candidates.
The format provided ample time for the participants to attack. Trump's attacks were bogus, and Biden's were inarticulate. But the time to do them was there. The problem was Biden. HE wasn't there. It takes less than a minute to say "He didn't answer the question, so there's nothing to rebut He never answers the question, because he has no answers. He just fills the dead air with lies. I know it, you know it, we all know it. Ask me a question, and I'll give you an answer."
Calling Trump a liar was Biden's job, not the moderators'. I've heard complaints that the moderators committed "journalistic malpractice," but they were not there as journalists. They were there as celebrity question readers. They did occasionally remind Trump, when he had time remaining, that he might want to answer the question they were asked. Even that, though, seems to me not their call. We have ears, and Biden has a mouth. The debate format provided ample opportunity for both to do their jobs.
People seem to think that fact-checking is easy. It isn't. Trump's whoppers are easy. But where does the whopper line end? How far from accurate must a number be to require correction? Fact-checking creates an opportunity for showing bias, which means it creates an opportunity for accusations of bias. That's playing into Trump's hands. CNN did the only thing they could. They refused to wrestle that pig in that mud.
Remember, Trump has participated in debates with Hillary and Obama. In which of those debates were complex issues thoroughly vetted? There is no format in which complex issues can be debated with Trump. We have town halls and long-form interviews for delving into issues. If voters don't watch or read long answers, that's on them. These head-to-head things are half-sprint, half-three-round fights. They have a particular purpose, and that purpose was well-served on Thursday.
My only complaint is that the format may have been too effective. If Biden loses, or the Democrats run someone else who loses for lack of logistical readiness, the country is screwed. But the blame will be on Biden for having debated at all, not on CNN for airing so revealing an hour and a half.
Biden should not be running. We saw that in this debate, and, if we are lucky, so did his wife.
MAGA delenda est.