Harris Scores Big Win at Debate

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

I will admit to not watching last night's presidential debate, but I did listen to the entire performance on National Public Radio (NPR), WWNO out of New Orleans.  By subjecting myself to just the audio of the debate, I missed out on the visual aspects of the show, things like the occasional raised eyebrows and revealing facial expressions.  But that's alright.  I wanted to hear what the candidates had to say without being distracted by the choreography.

From simply an audio perspective, these are the things that I noticed

• Kamala Harris stayed calm and in control throughout the debate, while Donald Trump's mood rose and dropped like some overworked carnival ride.  Harris ignored quite a bit of Trump's malarkey, but he would not let any statement of hers go unchallenged, always blustering objections and insisting on the last word.  I heard on the news this morning that he managed to speak more than five minutes more than she did, not an insignificant amount of time in a debate that was only ninety minutes long.
• Harris remained respectful and usually addressed her opponent by his name or his former title.  Trump, on the other hand, relegated the Vice President to pronouns like "she" and "her," and declined to address his opponent by her name or office even once during the debate.  He came across as loud, brash, and disrespectful - with a dollop of misogyny thrown in for good measure.
• Donald Trump said some of the funnier things of the night, though he likely did not intend for them to be taken as humorous.  When Harris said that Trump was not respected by world leaders, and he shot back that he had been praised by Hungarian Prime Minister (and autocratic strongman) Viktor Orban, I laughed out loud.  Out of a literal world of possible examples, he reached straight to the bottom of the political barrel and came up with Orban!  And then there was the bit where Trump, who famously does not even like dogs, dredged up the thoroughly debunked internet fable that immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are eating dogs and other family pets.  Not funny - but so damned funny!   Or when Rambo Trump said he "took a bullet to the head" because of Democratic rhetoric, or when he said President Biden hates his Vice President because she helped force him out of office.   One laugh line after another!  Donald Trump lies faster than most people can talk - and he can be so damned funny!

Donald Trump had four years at the helm of our government, and he spent most of his time on the golf course neglecting the people he was elected to serve.  His "accomplishments" consisted almost entirely of a massive tax cut for himself and his rich crony friends and corporations - and appointing three justices to the Supreme Court who gave that court the ability to overturn Roe v Wade - which it promptly did.  We cannot go back to "leadership" like that.

Last night's debate highlighted the clear choice voters will have this November.   One candidate is a beacon of truth and hope guiding us - all of us - toward a brighter future, and the other is Donald JohnTrump.  It is a time for moving forward - and Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are the way forward - and Donald Trump is lost somewhere on the back nine.  

The future is forward.  Never go back!