Welcome to another week of The Runback. Have you been enjoying The Duckpin? Do you have comments or suggestions? Do you want to write for us? Let me know at theduckpin@gmail.com. And please be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. Thanks in advance.
Episode #4 is Here
Click here to watch this week’s show, with guest, American Solidarity Party nominee for political consultant Rory McShane. Subscribe to the video version on YouTube, or subscribe to the Audio version at Apple Podcast, Stitcher, Anchor, Google Podcast, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Radio Public, or Breaker. Subscribe now so you don’t miss an episode!
News and Politics
David Trone: The Swamp’s Very Own Congressman: Usually, repeated legal scrapes with both regulators and law enforcement effectively disqualifies a candidate from public office. Not so with David Trone.
A True Public Servant: David Craig is the model elected officials should aspire to.
Culture
Origin and Evolution of the Toys for Tots Program: Toys for Tots began in 1947 as the brainchild of Marine Corps Reserve Major Bill Hendricks.
Sports
Onward and Upward: A look back at the 2020 Orioles Season.
Shameless Plug
The Monday Thought
The first Presidential Debate is tomorrow night in Cleveland. The political climate heading into the debate can best be summed up by this tweet from President Trump.
That certainly sounds like the kind of candidate who can read a poll and realizes that he is in a lot of trouble heading into the last 36 days of this campaign.
One of the biggest mistakes that Trump and other Republicans have made has been the setting of expectations for Joe Biden heading into the debate. With so much discussion about Biden’s mental acuity and physical stamina, Biden basically will win the debate just by showing up and not drooling on himself.
At this juncture in the campaign and given the poll numbers that we have seen recently, I don’t think that the debates are going to move the needle that much. With Biden having a substantial lead nationally and leads in many of the swing states, this debate is not going to change too much in the polls unless Biden makes a gargantuan mistake.
(If Trump were to make a mistake, it would be virtually impossible to move the poll numbers: most of the Trump voters in polls at this juncture are ride-or-die Trump voters; those voters are well aware with Trump’s myriad of flaws, both in his lack of knowledge and his lack of character, and are fine with him anyway).
Here are some things to look out for during the debate:
How many gaffes with Biden have? Will he misspeak a large number of times? Will it matter?
Will Trump attack debate moderator Chris Wallace? Trump went off about Wallace, claiming that Wallace won’t ask Biden tough questions.
How much will the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett play into the debate?
How off the rails will either candidate get? How often will they stray from the actual topics and questions that Wallace asks?
How many government programs will either candidate suggest during the economy portion of the debate? With both candidates supporting big-government programs, how much money will either propose spending?
Will Trump say something highly offensive during the “Race and Violence in our Cities” portion of the debate?
Between COVID-19 and election integrity, how many conspiracies will be referenced?
Debates don’t usually impact much, but they will dominate the next three days of the political cycle? Watch, don’t watch, but it will be interesting to see what happens and how it changes the course of the rest of the election.