What to Listen for at the Muted Presidential Debate Thursday

All eyes and ears will be on the second and final debate between President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday night.

The eyes will be watching when each of the candidate’s microphones are shut off while the other is responding to each of the debate moderator’s questions. And the ears of everyone will be listening to see what's said.

The decision by the non-partisan presidential debate commission to mute the mics is the result of what happened at their first debate, when the President repeatedly interrupted and at times so did the former Vice President.

And so, like so many other things here in 2020, this final presidential debate will be unusual, just like the first one was, but in a different way.

Now we all know that listening to others is harder to do than talking to others. So even with their mics being turned off at times, no one is expecting a calm and civil debate.

That doesn’t happen much anymore when it comes to politics. Contentious presidential debates are not uncommon, so even with muted microphones, we can expect this one to be pretty lively.

But most Americans are hoping that maybe, just maybe, there might be at least as much listening going on as there is talking.

There is that Proverb that offers useful advice to both the candidates and the voters. It says, “Let the wise hear and increase in learning…”. (Proverbs 1:5)

(Photo Getty Images)