By John Krull
TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS – Five words crystalized Tuesday’s presidential debate.

“Will you shut up, man?”

The Democratic presidential candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden, spoke them early on as President Donald Trump tried to run roughshod over him, moderator Chris Wallace, the debate rules and, frankly, the American people.

The debate was a disgrace – an embarrassment for a proud nation and a proud people.

The fact that the reason it was such a disaster is that the president of the United States – our commander-in-chief and the leader of the free world – couldn’t summon levels of dignity and self-control we would expect from 5-year-olds only adds to the disgrace. The man – I use the term loosely – was shameful and he was shameful on our dime and with our authority.

I’ve been a close observer of politics for 40 years now. I know what the president’s goal was going into the debate.

He wanted not to make a case for himself but to discredit his opponent as a reasonable alternative. If Trump could scare independents and moderate Republicans who have been disturbed and, yes, disgusted by his conduct in office into thinking Biden posed a threat to them, he might have a chance of clawing his way back into this race.

It’s an old political strategy, but never has it been executed with such naked desperation and panic.

The president flailed all night long. When he wasn’t spewing falsehoods, he was refusing to condemn white supremacists – and, in fact, telling them to “stand by.” When he wasn’t seeking to divide the nation, he was denying that he had any obligation to honor the results of the election – that is, to abide by the will of the people in a free and self-governing country.

In doing so, he abased himself, he dishonored his office and he insulted the American people.

Biden didn’t have a great night, but he didn’t have to, given that Trump was all but self-destructing in front of his and the nation’s eyes. The former vice president stuttered and stammered a bit – not surprising, given that he’s battled a stutter all his life – but he stood his ground. In fact, he grew stronger as the night went on.

Time and again, he tried to pivot and talk directly to the American people about their lives, their needs and their hopes.

Every time Biden did so, Trump began to chirp and then screech interruptions, because he recognized the threat such direct communication posed to his re-election. If Joe Biden turns this campaign into a referendum on how well Donald Trump has served Americans and their interests, the president’s chances will disappear like snow under a July sun.

Biden’s worst and best moments were products of the same impulse.

The worst moment came when he ducked Wallace’s question about whether he would support increasing the size of the U.S. Supreme Court or ending the filibuster in the Senate. Biden said he wouldn’t answer the question because he wanted to hear the American people speak.

The best moment came at the end.

Biden said, if elected, he wanted to be president of not just Democrats but Republicans, too. He spoke straight to the longing felt by millions of Americans to live in a country where we don’t have to be angry all the time.

One where we’re not encouraged by our president to hate our neighbors and fellow citizens.

That’s not Donald Trump’s dream for America. He hungers for chaos and thrives on division. There is no standard of decency or institutional safeguard he feels duty-bound to honor or protect.

He demonstrated that and so much more Tuesday night.

There are supposed to be two more presidential debates before the Nov. 3 election. In normal times, I would be tempted to say that the next ones couldn’t possibly be worse or more embarrassing than what we saw in the first one.

But these are not normal times.

This is life in Donald Trump’s America.

And this man – this president – has no bottom.

FOOTNOTE: John Krull is director of Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism and publisher of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

The City-County Observer posted this article without editing, bias, or opinion.