Why was the Bernie v Biden debate so absurd? It might have to do with the coronavirus

For most of the time I was watching Sunday’s Democratic debate between Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden, I was trying to figure out why it was so frustrating. Sure there were ideologically illustrative moments — as when Sanders argued that coronavirus stems from a larger emergency of health and economic inequality that requires a systemic response, versus Biden wanting to focus on the outbreak as a discrete challenge. And there were newsworthy moments — as when they tried to portray slivers of each other’s historical records as endemically problematic, or when Biden promised to have a woman as running mate if he’s the nominee (a commitment Sanders refused to make).

Those elements and more would usually be catnip for folks like me, looking for meaningful grist for our meaning-making mills. And yet… somehow, I guess on an emotional level, the debate felt at best unsatisfying and at times downright absurd. Why? I’ve got five theories. Here they are:

1. The cloud of coronavirus

It felt downright strange when the candidates were talking about anything other than coronavirus. A week ago, when life still felt fairly normal, I probably wouldn’t have felt this way. But now, let’s be honest, it’s pretty much all we think about and talk about and read about. And talking about anything else — even important, era-defining issues like climate change — just felt off. A few times, I had that sensation where you’re watching something happening but not really paying attention. I kept catching this happening and realizing they weren’t talking about what I was thinking about. I had to force myself to stop thinking about if my elderly parents are going to be okay and how I’m going to walk my dog if we’re told to stay indoors and instead listen to the back and forth on their records on Social Security. It was surreal. And felt, at times, disconnected from reality.

2. The lack of unity

In this unique context, I wanted to see unity. This isn’t usually my line during Democratic primary debates. I think arguments about the differences between candidates and especially between groups or wings of candidates — for instance, about the strategy of incremental change versus transformational change — are not only healthy but essential to the political process. And indeed, one of Bernie Sanders’ greatest, lasting benefits to the Democratic Party has been to make it more progressive and more responsive to grassroots populist energy. But again, recognizing the extraordinary moment we’re in, I wanted to see Sanders and Biden to show overarching unity in this moment, giving us the leadership and clarity we need in this crisis as compared with the bungling, lying pandemic of a president we have now. At the beginning of the debate, when they did just this and turned their ire on the virus and not each other, I felt reassured on every level. When they started attacking each other, it felt tone deaf.

3. Then when they did attack each other, it was in the weeds

There was a singular moment where Joe Biden said that Americans want results not revolution. That hinted at the fundamental difference between these two candidates — that while they may agree on 99% of the challenges facing the American people, their solutions to those problems are ideologically and strategically quite different. This moderate-versus-progressive dissection actually surfaced more in other debates, but now that the choices are winnowed down to two candidates on pretty stark ends of this divide, now is the time to really get into these questions. Sanders created an opening when he talked about the coronavirus pandemic in connection to broader, structural problems around health care and economic inequality. The moderators could have dug into this more and *that* conversation might not have felt like just another argument about who has which position on which issue or who said what way back when, but rather reveal to voters the differing foundational worldviews of these two candidates.

4. The lack of audience changed things

This one is a bit of a mystery card, but like I said, these are just my theories for why the debate felt so stressful and unpleasant. Because of coronavirus, there wasn’t a live audience. And it made a difference, I think mostly for the better, not only because it afforded more time for answers but because it just felt more serious and appropriate to the gravity of this moment (including the gravity of this election). And yet perhaps not having an audience made the angry old man shouting match antics feel all the more sad — that this wasn’t two candidates performing for a crowd but rather revealing their true nature even absent an audience goading them on. I hope I’m wrong. Maybe we’re all just tense right now.

5. I miss Elizabeth Warren

Okay, this is a personal point but I think it applies more broadly, too. It’s not just that Warren was my candidate, but I think she would have threaded the needle of this moment on this stage — outlining her detailed, comprehensive plans and pointing out the differences between her and her opponents but also highlighting where they agree and keeping her true enemy in her sights. Warren would have done what neither Biden nor Sanders did — explain with precise and devastating clarity exactly how Trump’s failed leadership exacerbated this pandemic. And bear in mind how elegantly she eviscerated Michael Bloomberg — not finger wagging or screaming at him but posing sharp, simple questions and points with painfully plain implications. I feel like Warren is the candidate we needed on this stage and the leader we need in this moment and we, as a party, blew it by not nominating her.

Sally Kohn, a member of USA TODAY's Board of Contributors, is author of "The Opposite Of Hate: A Field Guide To Repairing Our Humanity." You can find her online at sallykohn.com and on Twitter: @SallyKohn

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What was the Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden debate missing? Maybe gravitas