Playbook this AM: “Lowering the bar”

OK, THAT WAS NORMAL. Right? That made sense. That felt somewhat right. We learned things. There was not much shouting. We didn’t go to bed gnashing our teeth, or smashing our fists into walls.

THE FINAL TILT between JOE BIDEN and President DONALD TRUMP was refreshingly standard -- and that was good. The two men were forced to talk in turn, and the moderator, KRISTEN WELKER, did a bang-up job on the largest stage of any political journalist’s career.

OF COURSE, the bar for BIDEN and TRUMP was low. It might have been skimming the floor.

FOR TRUMP, that meant not acting completely & embarrassingly out of control, interrupting at every turn and disrespecting the debate rules. He reminded us that he was not a typical politician

At times, he almost looked like a pol, which was OK for the moment, because we know he isn’t and don’t need to be reminded with a bullhorn every three seconds, as we have been for five years.

Sometimes people want to hear information, not static. For Phish fans, sometimes “Fast Enough for You” is good, and for Dead Heads, when “Space” turns into “Stella Blue,” it’s occasionally centering.

FOR BIDEN, that meant delivering cogent arguments, tripping up only once (saying he wants to get rid of the oil industry, rather than just cutting subsidies) and not getting sucked into TRUMP’S vortex.

THEY ABLY CONTRASTED their general governing and substantive theories. This is what we wanted here. Right?
MORE THAN 45 MILLION AMERICANS have already voted -- so, for them, watching the Giants-Eagles game may have been a better use of time.