Hello from New York. I'm Chuck Todd and this is the Chuck Todd cast.

Yes, normally I come to you from Washington, but we did our coverage out of Atlanta in New York for the first presidential debate here at NBC News.

And needless to say, it was, I think, a very consequential consequential debate and that was a question and I obviously beforehand

thought it was more possible than not that this would be a less consequential debate than perhaps folks thought, but the question really was would either

candidate look like the caricature that the other campaign has been trying to paint.

With Donald Trump, did he come across unhinged with Joe Biden? Did he come across Lucit and all there?

And let's just say that it is Joe Biden that looked more like the caricature that the right's

been painting of him than Donald Trump did looking like the caricature that the

left has painted of him. As the debate was going on I was talking to a bunch of Democratic Party sources, including a few elected officials, a few labor leaders, a few other just long-time political strategists.

And to say that there was panic is an

understatement the words disaster can't believe this what's wrong with him this can't hold it was that type of rhetoric now look it's

it's possible you know be you can have a bad debate performed.

Ronald Reagan had a terrible first debate performance against Walter Mondale.

In fact, the famous quote where Ronald Reagan had to say, you know, I'm not going to hold my opponent's youth in an experience against

him.

Was in response to his bad first debate.

It was the only moment in that campaign for Reagan's re-election where there was a moment of doubt.

That first debate Reagan didn't look up to stuff.

He looked like he was a bit too old to do the job.

And that's probably about the best spin that the Biden campaign could come up with, but they've

really got a, they're really going to struggle here with spinning this performance because they got everything they asked for

This this debate format was the debate format they asked for the debate timing was the debate timing they asked for and it's that timing that is only adding what I think is

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