Last night "debate": Unwatchable.

It was a shout-fest version of professional wrestling, set up to make Newsom, California, and Biden look bad. 

It was a near-total waste of 90 minutes.

I learned four things.

1. We learned the event was a setup. The opening question by moderator Sean Hannity settled that. It showed this graphic, with Hannity wondering why so many people are escaping Governor Newsom's hell hole and going to Florida.

Throughout the evening the questions emphasized California's problems. Its gasoline taxes. Its marginal income tax rates for its wealthiest taxpayers. Its number of homeless. Hannity could have shown statistics about California's high median income, its job creation, the wealth created in California that spills out to enrich the rest of the nation. Hannity could have shown graphics comparing Biden's employment record with Trump's, the USA's inflation record compared with other comparable countries, our post-Covid GDP growth compared with Europe's.  But no.

2. We learned that Newsom tried to defend Biden and California but that framing matters more than argumentation. Fox set the frame. The U.S. is a disaster and Biden is senile: what say you, Governor Newsom? Newsom occasionally got off some un-interrupted statements when he looked forceful and in control. But most of the time Newsom looked like a swimmer trying to swim upstream in fast water against the premise of Hannity's questions. 

3. We learned that Newsom has a presentation flaw that will serve him poorly on the national stage. He smirks in the face of criticism of him or California. That re-enforces what people don't want to see coming from any politician, smugness. A smirk projects "We are rich and have Hollywood and Silicon Valley, and you are darned right we feel superior because we are the engine that drives the American economy."

Nobody likes a smirk. The country might accept a strong and articulate governor of California with a sincere and earnest demeanor boldly defending his state. But not one with a smirk. That is especially so if it comes from a guy with big, pampered hair, a movie star's good looks, and with kids in private schools. He looks like he is laughing off criticism, not refuting it. That is a bad look. He could fix this dismissive gesture if he got good coaching and has the humility to learn from it. But he undoubtably already gets very intense coaching, and there he was on camera, doing it. This isn't a good sign. Someone who knows him well enough to tell him the truth should speak up.

I wish he represented a purple state on the Great Lakes, a state with more Archie Bunkers in it. That would knock some humility into him.

4. DeSantis did not look terrible, but his situation looks terrible. Nikki Haley has become the remaining lifeline of the non-Trump GOP, and Donald Trump is swatting DeSantis away like a nuisance. Gavin Newsom said so to his face. There was no response from DeSantis, because what Newsom said is true and everyone knows it, including DeSantis.  

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