Extraordinary Political Television

Monday October 19th, 2020

My Dear America:

To say the least, last Thursday's Dueling Town Halls by Joe Biden and Donald Trump were interesting but disappointing, at least with regard to Donald Trump.  

Joe Biden actually looked and sounded very Presidential during his Town Hall broadcast on the ABC Network from the Constitution Center in Philadelphia.  Joe answered all questions carefully and sensibly and even stayed after the cameras were shut off to answer those questions from audience members who had not had a chance to ask their questions during the broadcast.

Donald Trump, on the other hand, looked and sounded like someone who had recently escaped from a mental institution during his excellent grilling by Savannah Guthrie on NBC.  Trump's rambling statements were angry and sometimes inappropriate, such as his whining about Guthrie asking him some tough questions and challenging his answers as If she had no right to question King Donald in any way shape or form. Savannah Guthrie did a good job.  Donald Trump did not.

Looking back on those Town Halls it seems clear what Joe Biden got out of his.  He had a chance to make his case to the American People uninterrupted and unencumbered by Donald Trump's presence.  It was a far cry from the First Presidential Debate in which Biden was mostly prevented from clearly defining his message to the American People by Trump's constant obnoxious interruptions and Trump's overall extremely inappropriate behavior.

Once again Donald Trump's belligerent Attitude and Behavior seemed to do him more harm than good during the Town Hall.  Some viewers might even have  gotten the impression that Donald Trump was deliberately trying to sabotage his campaign because he doesn't want to win another term as President.  I certainly don't subscribe to that theory.  I think Trump wants to win very badly but is running out of ideas and opportunities to make that happen.

I have to give Trump some credit, however, for simply showing up to the Town Hall so soon after his experience with the Coronavirus that had put him in Walter Reed Hospital for a brief period.  

Although Thursday had originally been scheduled as a Presidential Debate Night the representatives of the Presidential Debate Commission had determined that it was not safe for Donald Trump and Joe Biden to meet in person.  Instead they determined that the debate should take place virtually instead of in person.  Trump did not like that idea and apparently wanted to continue with an in person debate probably hoping to pass on the Coronavirus to the Former Vice President. When it became obvious that Trump refused to debate virtually The Presidential Debate Commission canceled last Thursday's debate completely.  

ABC then offered Joe Biden the opportunity to participate in a Town Hall since that was the format that had originally been agreed upon for the canceled Debate. Not to be outdone NBC offered Donald Trump the opportunity to also participate in a Town Hall last Thursday at the same time slot as Biden and Trump seized upon the opportunity to participate in the Town Hall on NBC.

More people watched Biden than Trump according to ratings but some people probably did what I did, which was to tape Trump's Town Hall and watch it later.

In fact, I watched Trump's disturbing Town Hall performance yesterday (Sunday) just before I watched a couple of other very interesting Political Programs that were broadcast last night on CNN and MSNBC.

At 9:00 PM on Sunday night CNN presented a truly extraordinary television production that was unlike any TV production that I had ever seen.  The program was hosted by Jake Tapper and featured stories and interviews with a number of individuals who had worked in and had been significant figures in the Trump Administration.  To a man and woman the guests on Jake Tapper's special indicated that they were on the program to attest to the fact that they all felt strongly that Donald Trump was not fit to be President of the United States. Although not every one of the former officials was willing to straight out endorse Joe Biden they made it clear that none of them were endorsing Donald Trump.  The show was powerful television which unashamedly delivered a gut punch to the Trump Campaign.

Following the Jake Tapper Special on CNN I watched another extremely powerful program on MSNBC at 10:00 PM.  The program was called "The Way I See It" and it was really a movie that was made about Pete Sousa who was the White House Photographer during both the Reagan and Obama Administrations.  

Pete Sousa was prominently featured during the program giving lectures featuring his uniquely moving photos that he took mainly during the Obama Administration.  Sousa makes it clear during the movie that he truly admired Barack Obama and it is hard to watch this film without admiring Obama along with Sousa.  Certainly Sousa's photos of Obama playing with his children and spending time with other peoples children as well along with Sousa's commentary show a man with a great amount of love and empathy for children.  The photos of Obama and the parents of children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School are extremely powerful and heartbreaking.  Clearly Obama can be seen in the photos as a parent as well as a President and a man full of concern and empathy for what he realizes those parents are going through.  

The film also points out that Pete Sousa is now a potent force on social media platforms where he continues to put his photos from the Obama Administration online with comments from Sousa which are bound to irritate and anger Donald Trump.

This film and the portrait it paints of President Barack Obama shows the viewer just how incredible the stark contrast is between Former President Obama and our current President Donald Trump.  These two men could not be more different from one another.  It certainly made me feel nostalgic for the good old days of the Obama Administration and made me feel even more motivated to vote for Barack Obama's Former Vice President, Joe Biden in the upcoming Presidential Election.

Quite Frankly, the sooner we see the end of the Trump Administration the better.  If the Trump Administration is allowed to continue after the disturbing Election Suppression Efforts and the nearly complete corruption of our American Government Agencies by Donald Trump we may have a difficult time returning to a Normal Democracy in America.   

Time is clearly running out for Americans to save their Democracy from further destruction by Donald Trump and his Outrageously Corrupt Administration.

Sincerely Yours

Jerry Gallagher