Nobody knows how long last night’s presidential debate impressions are going to last among the voting public, or even of there is going to be a second debate before election day. There is also the unanswered question about whether or not debates matter much, regardless of who ‘wins.’ So the importance of the debate as a determinant of the outcome of the election is unclear.
Harris is nonetheless getting plenty of good reviews for her ‘performance’ last night, while positive takes on Trump’s comments are scarce outside of right-wing media. Better that for Democrats that the opposite. Here are seven choice takes from commentators:
In “CNN Flash Poll: Majority of debate watchers say Harris outperformed Trump onstage,” Afriel Edwards-Levy writes that “Registered voters who watched Tuesday’s presidential debate broadly agree that Kamala Harris outperformed Donald Trump, according to a CNN poll of debate watchers conducted by SSRS. The vice president also outpaced both debate watchers’ expectations for her and Joe Biden’s onstage performance against the former president earlier this year, the poll found….Debate watchers said, 63% to 37%, that Harris turned in a better performance onstage in Philadelphia. Prior to the debate, the same voters were evenly split on which candidate would perform more strongly, with 50% saying Harris would do so and 50% that Trump would. And afterward, 96% of Harris supporters who tuned in said that their chosen candidate had done a better job, while a smaller 69% majority of Trump’s supporters credited him with having a better night.”
“Her pointed digs on the size of his rally crowds, his conduct during the Capitol riot, and on the officials who served in his administration who have since become outspoken critics of his campaign repeatedly left Trump on the back foot,” Anthony Zurcher writes at BBC.com. “The pattern for much of this debate was Harris goading her Republican rival into making extended defences of his past conduct and comments. He gladly obliged, raising his voice at times and shaking his head.”
Zac Anderson observes in “Who won the debate? Harris’ forceful performance rattles a defensive Trump” at USA Today: “Nervous Democrats saw a significantly stronger advocate than Biden, who repeatedly stumbled when he squared off against Trump on June 27 in Atlanta. In addition to delivering a much more fluid and coherent message, Harris often looked more poised than Trump as she calmly prosecuted the case against him, prompting a series of angry outbursts.”
Nandita Bose, Gram Slattery and Joseph Ax write in “Harris puts Trump on defensive in combative debate” at Reuters.com that “Democratic candidate Kamala Harris put her Republican rival Donald Trump on the defensive in a combative presidential debate on Tuesday with a stream of attacks on his fitness for office, his support of abortion restrictions and his myriad legal woes….A former prosecutor, Harris, 59, controlled the debate from the start, getting under her rival’s skin repeatedly and prompting a visibly angry Trump, 78, to deliver a series of falsehood-filled retorts.”
“Kamala Harris showed up — and then some….The vice president’s performance against Donald Trump, in which she repeatedly baited him and knocked him off balance, was a far cry from President Joe Biden’s disastrous June debate. And it gave Democrats the role reversal they had hoped for after their switch at the top of the ticket,” Politico’s staff writes in “Harris won the debate — and it wasn’t close.”
From “Democrats see attack ad gold mine in Trump’s debate comments” bye Andrew Solender at Axios: “Democratic lawmakers and strategists were elated at what they saw as an “unhinged” former President Trump repeatedly taking Vice President Harris‘ bait at Tuesday night’s debate….Why it matters: “Everything this dude says right now is an attack ad line,” said one Democratic strategist….Another told Axios during the debate that the ads are probably being produced “literally right now.”…What we’re hearing: Democrats in Congress cited multiple comments by Trump that they believe hurt the ex-president and his party….”
“The former president’s alternate reality conflicts with that of others, including his current and former GOP allies who said he blew it on stage Tuesday night against Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. Even Elon Musk agreed that Harris “exceeded most people’s expectations.”….The conservative aggregation site, the Drudge Report, declared: “The End.” Republican spinmeisters in the debate spin room in Philadelphia couldn’t sugarcoat the situation.” From “Who Won the Debate? Even Republicans Agree it Was Kamala Harris” by Mary Ann Akers at The Daily Beast.
Republican spin doctors don’t have a lot to work with regarding last night’s presidential debate. But they can take some comfort in knowing that there are seven plus weeks left in the race.
