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Hello and welcome to the Americano podcast, a series of discussions about American politics, power and prejudices.

This year, 2024, is an election year in America, a presidential election year. And so we will be doing two podcasts a week, rather than our usual one,

because we want to and because we know you can't get enough Americano in your life.

I am delighted to be joined by Patrick Rafini, who is a leading American pollster,

a pollster at Echelon Insights. And we're going to be talking about what else,

the first presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump that happened last night

and is being seen widely and probably rightly as a disaster for Joe Biden. Patrick, I won't

ask your opinion as a pollster, but just your opinion as a

viewer, first of all. How big a disaster was it for Joe Biden? So this was very hard to watch,

and it was hard to watch from the moment that Joe Biden stepped on stage and walking very slowly

shuffling on stage, mumbling something to an empty crowd hall there in

Atlanta.

You know, I think we've had, first debates have historically gone very poorly for the incumbent

president for a variety of reasons.

But this was on an entirely different level.

This was probably the worst debate performance in American history, in the history of

presidential debates. And I think why it was so damaging was it because it reinforced the core

doubt really that voters have about Joe Biden is whether he is up to the job.

And not only did it reinforce that he is not up to the job for a second term, he may not be up to the job right now.

And it was sad to watch.

...