CMV: Last night, Trump squashed any chance of winning re-election.

In my opinion, last night was the biggest blunder Trump made during his presidency. It comes down to this: The people who didn't like him already, still don't like him. The people who did like him, probably still do.<br><br>But what about the people who *tolerate* him? This is the demographic he needed to woo. So how did he do that? By acting like a 10-year old on live television, *consistently.*<br><br>Sun Tzu said: **Know yourself. Know your enemy. Know the field of battle.**<br><br>Trump didn't know his enemy. He either intentionally or unintentionally (I think unintentionally) belittled, mocked, humiliated, and reduced Biden to tears on camera. The entire night, he bullied, interrupted and spoke over Biden (as well as the moderator), and refused to play by the rules. It was like watching a small child throw a temper tantrum after losing a game of checkers.<br><br>I've been to 100's of hours of debating competitions. I coached debating for 7 years. And I know that Trump **lost this debate**.<br><br>Trump's strategy was probably something along the lines of "if I can make Biden blow up, I've won." I've seen that strategy used a number of times in live debates, and it more often than not backfires. The reason why it backfires is that the audience, and particularly the tolerating demographic, will see a person who is getting mad as *losing the debate.* The entire audience can see the contempt in the bully's face as he eggs his opponent into saying something regretful. The audience can hear the mocking tone and see the smug smile on the bully's face. The bully is the one who always looks like an asshole.<br><br>I think what's important to remember is that the audience isn't stupid. The audience knows that Trump's strategy was to bully. The audience can see the contempt, and the audience always empathises with the person who's getting bullied.<br><br>Trump *had* to play the clean, composed and respectful politician last night if he wanted to win re-election. He didn't, and I don't think that there's enough time for him to recover before the election.<br><br>Edit: For those saying Biden messed up with the Beau/ Hunter thing, I think that's true. But you have to remember that Trump's strategy was to bully his opponent. If your strategy is to bully your opponent, you *can't* try to make your opponent cry on live tv. That's like putting a roof on a house *before* you put up the walls. The first thing you need to do is establish yourself as a composed, respectful politician who is capable of creating an environment in which a civil debate can take place. <br>If you haven't established yourself as a civil politician, then the audience won't want to live under a president who is prone to outbursts when the going gets tough. <br>I think if Trump made the Hunter comment respectfully, and not as an outright personal attack, he could have gotten away with it. It was the fact that Trump went straight for the throat that made it look bad.<br>Sun Tzu said that all warfare is based on deception. If your strategy is to bully someone, you need to be subtle and make it look like it's not your fault. Trump took the "out in the open, full frontal assault" approach and I don't think that will pay off.