The debate between Trump and Baiden has become a battleground • There was no moment of dramatic turning point and it is doubtful whether the confrontation will significantly affect the candidates • Interpretation
Watching the presidential confrontation in the United States // Photo: AFP
In broad daylight yesterday, in Cleveland, Ohio, a battle cry was heard announcing that the two runners in the election marathon had entered the final line, in their uncompromising bid for the coveted job in the world.
It was the first of three televised confrontations between President Trump and the contender for the Biden crown, which is the last window of opportunity for the president to close the gap in the polls and take the lead.
Indeed, the history of the televised confrontation, which began with a mythical duel between Vice President Nixon and Democratic Sen. John F. Kennedy in 1960, in which he wounded - in one glowing case - the young senator's star and threw him straight into the White House, indicates more than once They gave birth to the defining and breaking moment of equality, which in practice decided the fate of the entire campaign.
This is especially true of conflicts that have reinforced and intensified existing images of the candidates' personalities.
Examples provide three election campaigns in which the fate of Republican President Ford in 1976, Democratic Michael Dukakis in 1988 and President George W. Bush in 1992 were doomed to the tribe as a direct result of an embarrassing omission for them, which further strengthened their prevailing public portrait.
This time, however, the conflict in Cleveland provided no constitutive moment of its kind, to be burned into the nation's collective memory.
On the contrary, if he remembers at all - it will be against the background of his low level and the unbridled exchange that took place during the course between the opponents, with the president playing the first violin among the embarrassing roosters that took place between the two.
Indeed it was a confrontation that broke the traditional rules of the game of cultural debate, albeit poignant, between rivals, who had generally in the past taken care to respect the time frame allotted to them, as well as the facilitator and spectators.
In Cleveland, the dam was broken into the process of disengagement from the legacy of the past, which began four years ago and escalated during the clash that even the contender for the Biden crown was a partner in.
Thus, since the confrontation did not include a moment of dramatic turning point or any watershed, it is doubtful whether it will significantly affect their status in the polls of the two candidates.
However, the milestones that could still hurt Trump's race as a result of the conflict must be emphasized.
First, he refrained from explicitly condemning the abominable, white-racial movement, and in practice returned to his unfortunate statement following the 2017 Charlottesville events.
This may hurt its rate of support among minority groups, including among the "Jewish Voice."
Second, the president has not pledged to respect the election results, and this position may somewhat weaken his position among the undecided independent electorate, fearing a tectonic crisis in the rules of the game.
Biden, for his part, made a serious mistake when he did not focus enough on the issue of Trump's tax returns and the implications of the fact that the amount of federal tax he allegedly paid in recent years was very low (or did not pay any tax in some years).
It should also be noted that the Democratic candidate was far from brilliant in his appearance, especially during the first, and completely anemic, third of the confrontation.
Overall, however, Biden did not collapse in the face of incessant pressure from the president, sometimes even trying to emulate John F. Kennedy's style as he sought to address the American people directly and ignore his rival Trump.
All in all, it was not a confrontation that will be remembered for good, and it is doubtful whether it will dramatically change the course and direction of the great battle for the White House, which will intensify even further towards the decision at the gate.
