I watched the 2024 presidential debate the night after it aired. I didn't have time to catch it live, so I watched it while waiting for the arrival of Hurricane Francine. I figured I'd be up all night anyway, so there was no harm in watching a debate that might keep me up all night.
Without the approaching storm, would what I saw during the debate have kept me up? It would have but not for the reason I feared. It would have kept me up because Donald Trump's vision of America is terrifying. And his plans for reshaping the country in his image are even more so. It would not have kept me up due to worries about Harris' suitability for the office. She turned in a performance for the ages, and it is tough to imagine how anyone could have done better.
I sometimes like to think of presidential debates as technical boxing matches. Knockouts are rare, so it usually comes down to how the judges score the bout. Which candidate landed the most blows? And of those blows, which did the most damage?
I was on the edge of my seat for the first five minutes. Harris seemed tentative, getting off to a shaky start. Was she in over her head here? In contrast, Trump projected strength and managed to stay calm. I remember thinking that some of what he said would appeal to some undecided voters. Uh-oh!
But I had no reason to worry because none of this lasted for more than about the first five minutes. Harris settled in and proved that she was more than ready for the fight. Trump lost his cool. He spouted more blatant lies and conspiracy theories than I was expecting. He threw everything he had at her, but his blows didn't land. Harris laughed most of them off. He looked weak, unable to defend himself against a far more skillful opponent. Harris was then able to sit back and pick him apart without endangering herself.
In this debate, Harris did everything she set out to do. She defined herself while blocking Trump's feeble attempts to do so. She seemed to know his strategy and be one step ahead of him most of the time. At times, it seemed like she was toying with him, and she seemed to have fun doing so.
Harris didn't land any knock-out blows, but Trump sure did. The problem was that he landed them against himself. Refusing to say that he hopes Ukraine will win the war? Refusing to give a clear answer on what he'd do with legislation seeking a national abortion ban? Refusing to acknowledge that he lost the last election? Harris inflicted plenty of damage, but not even she could hurt Trump as much as Trump hurt Trump.
The icing on the cake had to be team Trump's whining about the moderators. How dare they fact check their wanna-be dictator! But didn't the fact-checking seem awfully one-sided? Yes, it did! And why do you suppose that might be? When only one of the candidates is a compulsive liar, fact-checking will look one-sided. Trump demands fact-checking because he continues to make claims that have already de-bunked.
Will this debate change some minds? Yes, I expect it will. We saw two visions of America that couldn't be more different. We also saw one candidate who is mentally unfit to hold office, deranged to the point of being dangerous. Democrats should be even more enthusiastic about Harris now. Independents and Republicans who were ambivalent about Trump should join team Harris. She is willing and able to be the kind of leader who will heal divisions and return us to a state of civil discourse.
Image by StockSnap from Pixabay
