Political Experts Analyze First Presidential Debate In Cleveland

Last night, for the first time in this election season, President Donald Trump faced democratic challenger and former Vice President Joe Biden. The event was jointly hosted in Cleveland, by the Cleveland Clinic, and Case Western Reserve University. 

The conversation, moderated by Fox News anchor Chris Wallace, was supposed to focus on hot button issues like the Supreme Court, the coronavirus pandemic and ongoing racial unrest in cities across the country. But instead, words used to describe last night are: choatic, aggressive, undisciplined, disgraceful, debacle, outrageous,  and "a hot mess." 

Throughout the night, Wallace repeatedly had to ask the candidates, particularly President Trump, to stop interupting each other. And at one point, the President even refused to condemn white supremacy, when directly asked. 

We'll spend most of the hour today discussing the first presidential debate, and the fallout, with political analysts and with our listeners. Later, we'll hear about the peaceful protests that occured outside the debate earlier in the day. And, we'll hear reporting on whether the coronavirus response will affect anyone's votes. 

-Tom Sutton, PhD, Professor of Political Science, Baldwin Wallace University
-Katie Lavelle, PhD, Professor of World Affairs, Department of Political Science, Case Western Reserve University  
-Matt Cox, Founder & President, Capitol Partners  

-Jenny Hamel, Reporter, ideastream  
-Anna Huntsman, Reporter, ideastream