No. of Recommendations: 23
She did well last night in that expectations for her were nearly zero, which tells you what the public thinks about her already. She did well to needle Trump, make him angry, and then stand there and let the moderators handle the rest.
No - your expectations were nearly zero. Most everyone else recognized that Harris had a pretty decent record in Presidential debates, generally regarded as having performed will in all her primary debates and was generally considered the winner of her debate with Pence (second to the fly, of course).
But what new insights did anyone gain from what she wants to do as President? Why does she - the incumbent on the stage - try to pretend she's fresh and new when she's been the one co-running the country for the last 4 years?
Exactly.
Harris won the debate because she did what she wanted to do. She wanted to position Trump as an incumbent with a record of his own, and run against that. She wanted to remind everyone that Trump is not fresh and new - so that compared to him, she appears fresh and new. She's never been President, and he has - so if you want a change from what's happened in the past, she's the candidate for that!
And look what happened? She 100% succeeded in her goal! Even with you! Oh, not that you agree with her. You almost certainly disagree with her framing, with her attempt to position herself that way. But that's the message that even you - someone who disdains Harris - took away from the debate. Her message was "I am the fresh and new candidate," and you received that message!
Again, you almost certainly think that message is false. It probably infuriates you. But the skill of Presidential debating involves not letting your opponent keep you from achieving the goals that you want to achieve in the debate. Keep on your toes, don't get distracted, don't make bad choices, seize opportunities when they present themselves and don't fall for your opponent's traps. Make the points you want to make.
Harris did that amazingly well, while Trump was abysmal. Harris communicated the points she wanted to make so well that even Dope1, someone that's so far out of her target audience as to be hatewatching every word she said, received exactly the message she wanted to send. Meanwhile Trump barely made any of his own points, didn't do a good job explaining them when he did, and spent much of the debate responding to Harris' provocations.
An outstanding performance by Harris.
