Presidential Debate in the Rough

The handicap that people are talking about after last night's debate is not connected to golf — though the brief exchange between President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump regarding the sport might have been the only amusing segment of the evening. Because otherwise, Biden was in the rough.

To quote Al in Caddyshack: "Hey, baby, you must've been something before electricity."

It's not that Trump was particularly coherent, because he wasn't, or logical, because he wasn't. Or accurate, because he definitely wasn't. Asked about the events of January 6 — when a Colorado judge determined that the then-president actually incited an insurrection — he lied. A lot. When questioned about child care, he wandered off to an entirely different course.

But all too often, it seemed that Biden wasn't in the game at all.

And this morning, when email inboxes would usually be full of congratulatory notes for the party's leader from local Democrats, there was nothing. After the intensity of Colorado's primary a few days ago, which displayed sharp differences that voters responded to with surprise upsets (so long, Dave Williams), they've been stunned into silence.

There's already movement behind the scenes nationally, of course, as political strategists determine whether Biden can be shocked back into action. Morning becomes electric.

And at least in Colorado, where the Colorado Supreme Court determined that Donald Trump didn't belong on a presidential ballot, things are looking a little brighter. After all, in this week's primary, election deniers were denied a spot on the state's November ballot.

But after last night's debate, Trump may have nothing to deny come November.