Interesting debate night. I kind of liked it that two Dudes, who regularly spar on social media, nutted up and debated each other Man to Man.
Gotta hand it to Newsom, he went into hostile territory and did well. Right up there with Mayor Pete, who doesn’t shy from going on Fox to make his point. I wish more Dems did. The questions from Hannity definitely benefited Desantis and put Newsom to the test, most were from a Conservative perspective (“Biden looks senile, what are your thoughts?”). He wound up not only debating Desantis but Hannity, who is no slouch and is more of a contest for him.
Newsom smiled naturally, showed amusement, didn’t back down if interrupted and in several instances stopped Desantis from interrupting him. He took some nice jabs and made a few memorable digs about Desantis in regards to abortion, his immigration stunts, his failure to gain traction in the Presidential race, and his COVID posturing. He was strong in eye contact towards Desantis and directly addressed him.
Desantis had some strong moments as well. he was well armed with the facts he wanted to bring and delivered them forcefully. He wasn’t passive, often speaking over Desantis. His problem was he never looked at Newsom, he looked at the camera and when he tried to smile, it seemed unnatural and forced. He is not a strong debater.
And Hannity, for the most part, was fairer than I anticipated. Sure the questions were skewed heavily towards Conservative ideology but you sort of have to expect that. Lion’s den and all. He kept saying he didn’t want to be the hall monitor but that was sort of his job as the Moderator, no need to keep saying that, just play your part so they aren’t talking over each other. I would have liked a few questions that put Desantis’ feet to the fire instead of having Newsom play Defense all night, but that is neither here nor there.
In the end, I don’t think Desantis did himself any favors, but Newsom reached an entirely new audience tonight and whether you agree with him or not, any Fox viewer has to respect he stood in there and took it without complaint and with a smile on his face. Most Dems avoid Fox, but at the end of the debate Newsom said “I got all night, let’s keep going!” which was very cool.
