Enough words have been spilled on this, but you have to listen to those with some authority―e.g., Frank Luntz, the long-time Republican pollster on how Trump has blown his chances in the election:
Luntz said he thought it wasn’t that the Democratic nominee won the debate, but “I think more accurately, is that Donald Trump lost.”
“And this is not the worst debate performance I’ve seen in my career, but it’s very close to it,” he added. . . . “I think that he loses [the election] because of this debate performance.”
Luntz cited in particular the comments about people in Ohio eating dogs and cats. We all know how this went down. (There are 46.5 million cat owners in the U.S., and 65.1 million own dogs.) Thankfully, my cat does not live in Ohio.
Let’s not fail to mention Trump’s comments about Democrats killing just-born babies.
Harris’s reaction shots throughout were priceless, worth more than any verbal commentary.
On another note, I thought she fumbled her message on the economy, where she clearly trails Trump in the polls. Harris offered a lot of hollow phrases, like “the dignity of home ownership” in her “opportunity economy.” One writer says she needs to address people’s real problems more directly:
You deserve the freedom to live a good life. No one gets to take advantage of you to get rich. If you are growing up in West Virginia or rural North Carolina, you should be able to find a good job where you are and not have to leave seeking work. When you have kids, a big tax credit will help you to decide for yourself whether to work or stay at home. Reproductive freedom includes the chance to raise a family without choking economic stress.
I’d be more specific than that. Republicans now offer their own bogus answers to these problems, and their partisans have no choice but to believe them. Only Harris can stop this inanity. And she will have to do it with plan specifics, not high-sounding generalities. “Democrats are the party of the system this year, and if they don’t show that the system can change radically, the advantage will pass to those who promise to break it.”
John, as usual, you nailed it.
Trumps to lose.
Bill Schubart
I yr
Sally here. I don’t like or trust polls. They destroyed the last election and are headed in the same direction.
Thanks, John. I thought this line from Frank Luntz that you quoted was the most important judgment about the debate. “I think that he loses [the election] because of this debate performance.” Because it was from him and because it was about more than who won the debate.
Agreed that she needs sharper, concrete proposals on the economy. So far, one can only assume she has none.
It’s going to be hard to convince many key undecideds who are focused on the economy, and this may be her/our downfall. Here’s an African American woman from Milwaukee, quoted in the NYT after the debate.
Keilah Miller, 34, who lives in Milwaukee, grew intrigued by Ms. Harris too. Ms. Miller said she had voted Democratic in past presidential elections but decided to stop voting altogether about a year ago. Her own situation, and that of other Black women in Milwaukee, had not improved, she said.
On Tuesday, she felt nudged unexpectedly toward Mr. Trump.
“Trump’s pitch was a little more convincing than hers,” Ms. Miller said. “I guess I’m leaning more on his facts than her vision.”
Ms. Miller said that, while her heart pulls her to Ms. Harris’s potentially history-making candidacy, she finds herself thinking fondly of her old life.
“When Trump was in office — not going to lie — I was living way better,” she said. “I’ve never been so down as in the past four years. It’s been so hard for me.”