Why the first Trump Biden debate will be worth watching

As a neurologist I’ve always been asked a lot about Biden’s cognitive state.  I’ve watched him in all his debate and State of the Union message and found nothing wrong with his cognition in any of them (2 links at the end  but the third is concerning).  The upcoming debate 27 June (if it actually takes place) will be well worth watching.

Here’s why.

As a third year medical student on psychiatry rotation,  I interviewed a Bryn Mawr student who was on the psych ward (my wife was an undergraduate there at the time).  I well knew the academic intensity of the place, and how much pressure the girls  put on themselves.  So I talked and talked and commiserated with her.  After a pleasant enough time the I concluded the interview and left.   The teaching psychiatrist asked me what I thought, and I told him how frigtening I found it given what I knew about Bryn Mawr. He asked me (gently) if I had found out that she thought the television was talking to her. I had not.  Basically by talking to her when she went off track, I kept her sane because I didn’t want to see just how ill she was.

So I learned to shut up, and let people tell and show me what was wrong with them.  This is may be why Biden did well during the debate. The short time given to answer and the barrage of questions and interruptions (by Trump) kept him focused.

This time, only one candidate’s microphone will be active at a time (under control of the moderator), so interruptions by the other won’t be possible.