Donald Trump set the tone for a brawl that offered a bleak picture of American democracy
As this annus horribilus grinds toward its close, the first (and final?) presidential debate provided further evidence that 2020 is a bad scriptwriter. What might possibly have been an interesting and even educational exchange turned out to be a distressing and largely unwatchable pissing contest.
Related: A mess of Trump’s making: key takeaways from the first presidential debate
Geoffrey Kabaservice is the director of political studies at the Niskanen Center in Washington DC as well as the author of Rule and Ruin: The Downfall of Moderation and the Destruction of the Republican Party
Derecka Purnell is a Guardian US columnist. She is also a social movement lawyer and writer based in Washington DC
An attorney in New York, Lloyd Green was opposition research counsel to George HW Bush’s 1988 campaign and served in the Department of Justice from 1990 to 1992
Related: America is in crisis. The presidential debate did nothing to help | Moira Donegan
Art Cullen is editor of the Storm Lake Times in Iowa, where he won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing. He is a Guardian US columnist and author of the book, Storm Lake: Change, Resilience, and Hope in America’s Heartland