I am not exaggerating when I say that reading this story caused me physical pain. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/undecided-voters-2020-presidential-debates/2020/09/27/0911c650-fd9e-11ea-8d05-9beaaa91c71f_story.html?wpisrc=nl_politics

“I’ll decide based on the debates,” said George Cottingham, a 25-year-old music production student in Racine, Wis. “I want to see a sense of purpose. I always can tell if someone’s competent by seeing how they present themselves.”

[receding scream as Dave self-defenestrates]

"The Boltzes, lifelong Republicans, want the debates to reveal what they say news coverage of the campaign has not: Who will address the cost of health care? Who will support protests for racial justice but stand firm against violence? Who can actually bring people together?"

"Still, she likes the attention Trump pays to rural America and she thinks of him as someone who doesn’t flip-flop, who tells it like it is."

[runs, gibbering, into the ocean]

[rocks back & forth, sobbing quietly]

Uh, yes, "fiscal conservatism" has ALWAYS been oligarchic for the wealthy and racist for the base. It's always been a thin pretext for efforts to accrue political power. It's never been applied consistently or coherently.

It's always been bullshit. All of it.