I get when your candidate of choice craps the bed, the first impulse is to accuse the Debate Staff of bias, but I think Trump got some major advantages last night that Harris didnāt get. Namely, time.
Harris spoke 36 times last night, but Trump spoke on 45 occasions. He spoke for about 7-8 minutes more than Harris did. Every time he wanted to add another rebuttal the Moderators allowed it. The one time Harris wanted to they refused and moved to the next topic.
Despite having substantially less replies and time, Harris seemed to make the best of it. And perhaps, her best strategy might have been to bait Trump and let him do the damage to himself, so letting him speak helped her more than speaking herself.
Harris had one objective yesterday, to look Presidential and capable of handling someone like Trump. I think she did a good job reassuring the American public she is up to the task. Trump had some good moments, but his āI am speakingā bit fell flat (without an audience it really seemed awkward) and he failed to link Harris to Bidenās policies until almost the end of the debate, where he should have led with it.
From a visual standpoint, Harris looked confident and almost amused by some of Trumpās rants. Trump looked slumped over, angry and tired. His eyes were squinted the entire time, they were barely open, which aged him. He also looked a bit passive when he failed to command the stage and meet Harris for the opening hand shake, he scurried to his podium and Harris came to him, hand out, and forced the handshake he was avoiding. Boss move, there.
Very impressed by Harris overall, and I think this was Trumpās worst debate performance. He wasnāt prepared but that seems to be his preferred method, just winging it. Most of the time, this has served him well but it didnāt last night.
Good debate. Would like to see another but I feel I have certainly seen enough, and so has most of America.
