General Discussion

For instance, in a tie there's some common win condition that is in at least some sense zero-sum or exclusive. The tying participants are actually competing against one another in such an event. That's not quite what happened.

It wasn't about equality, really. Both participants looked awful in completely different ways. Their performances were both horrible, but perpendicular, like they were sucking at completely different events. You don't ask "what did the high-jumper do that was equal to the discus thrower?" and get specific, meaningful comparative answers. What millions of American voters saw was fashy Trump constantly lying his arrogant ass off with Biden looking confused and sounding weak.

To continue with the track&field analogy, if we suppose they were competing in a footrace, one contestant fell on his face at the starting gun while the other ran off sideways into the bleachers, broke into the broadcast room, and took a crap on the camera. Both get a DNF as far as the race goes but it doesn't make sense to me to say, "it's a draw." That's kind of missing the point.

Again, IMHO.

It was a sad night, a lost opportunity for Biden to dismantle TSF for the world to see. It might have hurt or helped one campaign or the other long term, that's hard to call at the moment. But that doesn't mean it was a tie.