The following is presented as part of The Columbian’s Opinion content, which offers a point of view in order to provoke thought and debate of civic issues. Opinions represent the viewpoint of the author. Unsigned editorials represent the consensus opinion of The Columbian’s editorial board, which operates independently of the news department.
Are Americans so angry that they will vote for an undisciplined liar who vows to turn back the clock? Or is the country ready to turn the page on negativity and polarization and take a chance on a new leader promising to bring about change for the middle class?
Right now, the answer is that America is divided.
We know exactly who Donald Trump is. He is the man we saw on that debate stage Tuesday night. Angry and undisciplined, taking the bait, crowing about crowd size, calling names, repeating claims so outlandish — about immigrants eating pets and abortions after birth — that the moderators had to fact-check him.
Trump was Trump. It is the reason his base is solid — they have bought into his shtick — and the reason that he has yet to command the support of a majority of Americans. He did and said nothing in the debate to move beyond his base.
Kamala Harris had more to lose Tuesday. Roughly one-quarter of Americans told pollsters coming into the debate that they didn’t know enough about her, which is understandable.
They learned that she is a polished debater and a commanding presence. They learned a little about her middle-class background and about her plans to give middle-class families tax breaks for having children, help in buying a home and support in building small business. They learned that she is not Joe Biden, although not exactly why. They learned that she has experience in dealing with foreign leaders. And they learned that she is comfortable standing up to bullies and knows how to get under Trump’s skin.
The debate made clear the value of careful preparation. Harris took it seriously, and she won. Her answers were delivered with polish and aplomb. She never lost her cool. She did not get trapped. Her attacks went to the heart of Trump’s vulnerabilities: his outsized ego, his obsession with his crowd size (amazing that he would get distracted by defending his crowds in an answer to a question about immigration), his dislike of John McCain, his lack of plans and policies that would make a difference in the lives of average Americans.
Trump bragged in advance that he didn’t need to prepare for the debate because he does rallies and interviews with friendly reporters every day. And it showed.
Debates are not an occasion for tossing red meat and spewing misinformation. He is still smarting that he is not running against Joe Biden. You know he lost the debate when his aides complained about the moderators and claimed, as always, that Trump was a victim of unfairness.
David Muir is the most-watched anchor in television news. Trump agreed to the debate moderators and the format. The mikes were muted at his insistence. Complaining about the format of the debate and the fact that he was fact-checked is a loser’s lament. Going to the spin room afterward is the tactic of a loser who believes he can talk his way out of anything.
Trump abjectly failed to answer the questions he was asked. Why did he kill the bipartisan border bill? Will he veto a national abortion ban? Does he want Ukraine to win the war? What would he do to resolve the war in Gaza? Instead, he called names, accusing Harris of being a Marxist and hating Israel, which may work at rallies of the faithful but is meaningless to voters looking for answers.
Trump had a case to make against Harris; he just didn’t make it. It wasn’t until the final minutes of the debate, when voters are tuning out and heading to the bathroom or the refrigerator, that he finally brought up the point that she had been vice president for the last three and a half years. That was, according to his aides, supposed to be one of the themes of the debate.
Instead of complaining about Biden, he should have pinned her down on where she differed from Biden. She offered to debate him again, which she doesn’t need and he does. But how could he be any different than he was Tuesday night? He can’t.
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