Presidential debate like worst Thanksgiving ever – but longer

Tuesday's presidential debate was an unprecedented mess of personal insults, lies, and lack of decorum. Democratic challenger Joe Biden called President Donald Trump a clown and said, "Will you shut up, man?"

This did not hold Trump back from an evening of almost uninterrupted interruptions, which increasingly desperate tactics from moderator Chris Wallace could only temporarily control.

I get paid to watch the presidential debate so you don't have to, and after watching Tuesday's debate I'd happily return the money.

After 90 punishing minutes, I needed to exercise and take a shower to recover. Twitter users reported feeling the same way. Major news anchors called it "dumpster fire" and a "circus."

Watching the debate was like attending the worst Thanksgiving dinner ever, except at a Thanksgiving dinner, someone would have stormed out after 10 minutes, or punched the other person in the nose, ending the misery.

Rather than a debate, it felt like watching Joe Biden battling his superego, that nagging judgmental negative voice we all have in our heads that irrationally criticizes everything we do or say.

Superegos, however, usually fall silent as we are speaking. That was not the case in this debate with Donald Trump. Highly respected Fox News anchor Chris Wallace used begging, shouting and shame in an attempt to stop the president from talking over Biden, but to little avail.

Trump called Biden stupid, attacked Biden's son over his drug abuse and unleashed a barrage of lies about Biden, conflating Biden's positions with the left wing of the Democratic Party.

Trump also notably refused to denounce white supremacists, talked about the need for law and order when asked about racial justice, and called racial sensitivity training unAmerican.

Trump said forest management practices were responsible for the record-breaking fire season on the U.S. West Coast, and dodged talking about other aspects of climate change.

To put it mildly, the president came off as obnoxious, impolite and unpresidential. Yet Biden did little to allay the concerns of people concerned he is just another tax-and-spend Democrat. The solutions he highlighted for the COVID-19 epidemic revolved around the federal government giving money for protective gear and other safety equipment to businesses and institutions.

His plan for the environment involved massive government investment in green infrastructure.

Biden said he would raise taxes on corporations and would expand Obamacare. He did effectively push back on Trump's accusation that he does not support law enforcement, but did not effectively parry Trump's suggestion that Biden would shut the country down to fight the coronavirus. (Biden supports shutting down regions of the country if health officials recommend it.)

Due to Trump's constant barrage of insults, personal attacks, half-truths and lies, Biden did not have a chance to counter much of what the president said. This, on a certain level made Biden look weak.

However, Biden came across as a decent, good man.

More importantly, there were no signs of mental decline – a repeated theme of Trump on the campaign trail. Biden did stumble over his words a few times, but not to an extent that would concern any voter who has had to deal with an overbearing, irrational boss.

And with so many false accusations, lobbed his way, Biden needed to pick his battles. For example, Biden let slide Trump's accusation that Biden wants to "get rid of the cows." (Biden does not want to get rid of cows.)

Polls have been stubbornly persistent throughout this election season. Very little that was said in this debate is likely to change many people's minds.

Trump supporters are under few illusions about the kind of man he is, and support him because he has delivered on issues like tax cuts, slashing regulations and appointing conservative justices.

People with concerns about Biden's mental fitness will be reassured.

The most consequential part of the debate focused on election night and its aftermath. Wallace pointed out that the results would not be clear until many days after voting on November 3 because it would take time to count the mail-in ballots. Wallace then asked the candidates if they would urge supporters to "stay calm during this extended period not to engage in any civil unrest" and pledge that they would "not declare victory until the election has been independently certified."

Biden said yes, but Trump doubled down on his attempts to undermine the legitimacy of the election by attacking the integrity of the mail-in balloting system.

The president also again refused to guarantee he would peacefully handover power, instead seeming to encourage his supporters to get ready to take to the streets. He told the far-right group Proud Boys to "stand back and stand by," adding, " I'll tell you what, somebody's got to do something about antifa and the left."

Somebody has also got to do something about a president who won't promise to honor election results. If today's debate left you feeling dirty, then, with apologies to Dana Bash, there's not enough soap in the world to prepare for the election show the president has planned.