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Matter of Opinion

New York Times Opinion

Society & Culture, Ross Douthat, News, New York Times, Journalism

4.2 • 7.2K Ratings

🗓️ 2 October 2020

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the aftermath of the first presidential debate, Michelle Goldberg and Ross Douthat try to answer the question, “What was that?” They discuss whom President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden were talking to, how much it’ll move the needle for yet undecided voters, and what to look for in the remaining debates. Then, the editorial board writer Michelle Cottle joins the podcast for a comprehensive look at the last week of news: Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court, Trump’s tax revelations, the debate and what it all means for the state of the race. Finally, Michelle recommends you enjoy the outdoors while you still can. For background reading on this episode, visit nytimes.com/the-argument.

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Michelle Goldberg.
0:01.8	I'm Ross Douthet, and this is the argument.
0:05.6	Today, a debate about the first 2020 presidential debate.
0:13.2	Then, our colleague, Michelle Coddle, from the editorial page, joins us to talk about Amy
0:17.7	Coney Barrett's nomination, Trump's taxes, and the larger state of the race.
0:23.0	Just one more month to go, folks.
0:24.8	We're almost there.
0:30.0	After what has felt like a decade-long campaign, the 2020 presidential debate finally kicked
0:35.9	off on Tuesday night.
0:37.9	And it was something.
0:39.6	The question left was, who is on your list, Joe?
0:45.6	We're recording this on Wednesday morning.
0:47.6	It's only been 12 hours since the debate.
0:49.9	So while our reactions are fresh, our bodies and brains may be a touch exhausted.
0:55.3	But would that provide, oh, let's dive in?
0:57.4	Was the debate everything you expected, Michelle?
0:59.7	Why I'm not sure exactly what I expected.
1:02.1	I mean, to me, the big question was he couldn't, you know, I think both because of the gender dynamics
1:07.6	and because of COVID, he couldn't physically menace Joe Biden the way he did Hillary Clinton,
1:14.4	which was to me the sort of dominant takeaway from the debates in 2016.
1:19.7	I just remember feeling so defiled by watching that.
1:25.0	And it's interesting to me that so many more people had that experience watching this,
	...

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