Takeaways From The Trump/Harris Debate From An Independent Voter’s Perspective

So, on September 10, 2024, we had the long-awaited political debate between former President, Donald Trump, and Vice President Kamala Harris. The 90-minute debate was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and co-moderated by David Muir and Linsey Davis of ABC News. While some are saying the debate was exciting and spirited, it seemed more scripted and loaded with rerun tactics, and is unlikely to move the needle for either candidate.

Donald Trump’s Performance

Pros

Well, although the moderators covered a lot of ground in the debate, it seemed to me that Donald Trump gave his best performance by hitting Kamala Harris on the economy, immigration, and foreign policy.

Trump made sure the American people knew that he felt their pain on high inflation and a bad economy. Trump didn’t give a lot of details on how he would fix the economy, but he didn’t pretend as if there was not a problem with the economy and that it needs to be fixed.

On immigration, Trump loudly and aggressively talked about the Biden-Harris administration’s open borders and how illegal immigrants are crossing the border and draining Americans of financial resources and engaging in violent crimes across the country. He stressed that he would close the border and take actions to remediate the border crises, including using law enforcement to make mass arrests and engage in deportations.

Trump’s most powerful performance came on foreign policy. He boasted about the relationships he has with foreign leaders and how they know he means serious business on foreign policy. He asserted that if elected, he would resolve the Russia/Ukraine war and the wars in the Middle East, even before he was in office. On this issue, Trump was quite convincing. There were no invasions of smaller countries by Russia, China, or North Korea during Trump’s presidency.  I believe foreign leaders do in fact fear Trump, if for no other reason – it’s because he’s unpredictable.

Cons

When I listen to Donald Trump speak or debate, I always think about the great Frank Sinatra and his version of the hit song  “My Way.” It’s possible that Trump thinks he is a great speaker. However, the truth is, he’s not. Throughout the debate Trump rambled and came across as loud, angry, emotional, and unfocused.  Perhaps this is why he let Kamala get away with telling lies like saying the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent presidential immunity decision would make Trump immune from any misconduct if he entered the White House again. That’s a powerful lie and Trump should have stopped Harris in her tracks. Any President committing crimes while in the White House that are not deemed “official acts” can be held civilly and criminally responsible for his or her actions.

Trump should have demanded the moderators do a fact-check on the presidential immunity decision. This is the most important legal decision in over 50 years. People, especially lawyers, should not be allowed to make inaccurate statements about the case.

Each time Harris said something Trump believed he had to respond to it. I don’t think that was necessary, especially on issues like the size of the crowds at his rallies. At some point, it just seems small and petty.

While I think Trump gave a decent performance, he may have diluted his strongest messages by engaging in loud, angry, emotional rhetoric and focusing on small points and personal grievances.

Finally, there’s one thing Trump should keep in mind during his campaign. If you are a man who has to do everything his own way, when things don’t work out, just be man enough to accept the outcome, because you’ll have no one to blame but yourself.

Kamala Harris’s Performance

Pros

Well, to begin with, expectations for Kamala Harris’s debate performance were low. She is not known for being a great unscripted speaker. She does fine with notes and a teleprompter, but she is not known for being a naturally good speaker. Period. One reason she is not a great speaker is because she frequently engages in inappropriate laughter when asked tough questions.  On that note, Kamala fooled anyone who thought she would debate Trump while engaging in her loud, silly, inappropriate laughter.  I didn’t see any of that. Harris managed to eliminate this annoying quality and it certainly helped her performance when speaking and gave her an air of seriousness. Additionally, the Vice President did not engage in any unintelligible “word salads” while trying to express herself. She tried to be clear and focused and that effort paid off for her.

My mother’s younger sister is my favorite aunt. She’s just like a second mother to me. In fact, sometimes she can be more loving, understanding, and compassionate than my actual mother. Well, that’s how Kamala came across.  Although her platitudes and slogans did seem phony, Kamala spouted off enough appealing and unifying platitudes and slogans to make you think she really cares about you.

The one I liked the most was: “Americans have more in common than what separates us.”

If that were true, the country would not be so divided. In any event, Harris did her best effort to push the country towards unity and common ground.  She was that auntie who sits at the table and tells cousins not to fight each other, but to love and respect each other, because we are all a part of the same family. This is great stuff, if you want an auntie for President of the United States.

Cons

During the debate, Vice President Harris came across as emotional, whiny, annoying, disingenuous and full of platitudes and slogans. Apparently, this is how she shows sincerity and compassion. However, she didn’t have many details to explain how she would turn her platitudes into working policy to benefit the American people. Furthermore, Harris has been in office for nearly 4 years. So, the question becomes, why hasn’t she done any of the things she says she’s going to do if she becomes President? Her supporters seem to argue, “Well, she’s not the President.”

That argument makes no sense. Kamala could have presented her ideas to her boss, Joe Biden, and if her ideas are so great, why wouldn’t he act on them?

The Vice President kept talking about “turning the page.” She never said what page she was turning to. A lot of Americans fear she may be trying to turn the page back to 2008. For many of us the Obama years were some of the worst years of our adult lives, and we don’t want to revisit the policies under that time period.

Furthermore, while some will disagree, the fact of the matter is that Kamala Harris does not have an authoritative presence. She does not come across as someone with a commanding presence, and neither the black girlfriend attitude nor the so-called black “swag” is a substitute for an authoritative presence. You either have it or you don’t.

However, a lack of authoritativeness is not a deathblow in politics.  I didn’t think Barack Obama had an authoritative presence while in the White House, whether he was smiling for the cameras or using his preacher voice to give a speech…and it probably worked well for him because he came across as non-threatening.  In any event, by most accounts, Obama did come across as likeable, and some would say charismatic. Others would even say charming. Kamala seems to lack the likeability, charisma, and charm of Obama.

Harris may be likable, charismatic, and charming to some, but what I mostly saw during the debate was phoniness. Her entire performance seemed highly scripted, right down to making silly faces, nodding her head in disagreement with Trump, and talking while her microphone was off. That was not a good look for her.

In Kamala’s defense, I am willing to acknowledge that there is a double standard for minorities and women on the issue of authoritativeness. This is especially true for black women. Authoritative minorities can come across as threatening, especially if they are not in an arena that calls for authoritativeness like the military. Black people who are naturally authoritative frighten people, especially white people.

Society just isn’t use to it. In my own experience as an amateur actor, I once had a casting agent tell me to my face, I was too authoritative looking for an acting job. Black women who are authoritative are seen as a threat to the establishment, especially when they are viewed as not having earned the authority.

Unfortunately, Kamala is not viewed as authoritative and so she can be easily dismissed as a lightweight. However, if she was authoritative, then she would be deemed as threatening and that could work against her as well. Of course, there are exceptions when it comes to women who are authoritative and successful, such as the “Iron Lady,” Margaret Thatcher. Other examples include women like Dr. Julianne Malveaux, Dr. Condoleezza Rice, Judge Tanya Chutkan, and Patricia Roberts Harris just to name a few.

I could go on, but that’s another story for another time.

The Moderators

What can I say about a couple of good-looking, fresh, articulate moderators?  In addition to being easy to look at, I thought David Muir and Linsey Davis were polite, easy to get along with, stern, and mostly professional. However, they both seemed a little biased against Donald Trump. When Trump said something, Muir would ask a follow-up question and demand he explain how he would implement his policies. He didn’t do this as often with Vice President Harris. Trump was fact-checked several times throughout the debate. I don’t recall the moderators fact-checking Harris at all.

Also, as I said above, the moderators were allowed to get away with not fact-checking Kamala Harris’s untrue statements about the effect of the US Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity and how it would affect Trump’s behavior if he were reelected and committed misconduct while in the White House. That was a big oversight on the part of the moderators.

Final Analysis 

The debate did not make Donald Trump lose any support. Some of his supporters are tired of how he makes his arguments, but Trump can only be Trump. He isn’t a well-refined speaker like JD Vance, Bill Clinton, or Barack Obama, and that’s fine. As long as he gets his point across, that’s all that matters to his supporters…and I think Trump managed to do that. Trump has nothing to gain from additional debates.

If there is not another debate many will say Kamala Harris won the debate, and that is only because of the low expectations viewers had for her before the debate. She essentially was the runner in a race who got next to last when everyone expected her to get last place. That’s not what I would call a win. However, it’s much better than what viewers expected from her. Trump didn’t need to win the debate.  Harris did….and she might want to quit while she’s ahead.

In the end, the needle didn’t move much for either candidate…and the election won’t be won or lost on debates.