Damien

The thing with these debates is that it doesn't seem to matter who actually won on merit but who is perceived to have won afterwards which is where the expectations come in. Biden is currently seen to have won in each of the three post-debate polls that have been taken (at least from actual polling companies, not internet polls) and that may be because people thought he would have a dementia breakdown on stage. It might be because he is polling higher so has a % of people who like him/hate Trump he has an advantage when people are tasked who won the debate.

Biden is probably happier today since the debate disaster people were maybe expecting didn't happen and he his polling well generally. He doesn't want the state of the race to change and a narrow win/narrow loss/draw doesn't change it.