When Donald Trump debated Joe Biden, it was easy enough to tell who won. Everyone in America — outside of a handful of hopeless party apparatchiks — could admit that Biden had malfunctioned so badly he had dealt a grievous (ultimately, fatal) blow to his reelection. Absent such an extreme outcome, how will we know who won the debate between Trump and Kamala Harris? Ask this one question: Who is the debate about?
The most important way to tell who won is to see who was the main topic of conversation. Consider Harris. She’s running a campaign aimed at creating an image of herself with no relation to her actual personality, record, past positions, or association with an unpopular administration. She has disavowed through spokespeople various positions she took in the past, personally, with great emphasis, often in nationally televised interviews and debates — yet she refuses to offer any reasoning for changing her views or any reassurance that they won’t change back when in power. She’s also prone to crippling anxiety when asked to make decisions, commit to positions, or defend things she’s said or done. That’s why (in contrast to Trump) she has done nearly no interviews and no press conferences, and put her running mate in a position where he’s afraid to answer any questions himself for fear of being asked what she stands for. (If you’ve watched him in Minnesota, Tim Walz is perfectly capable of doing press. He’s hiding because the Harris campaign fears questions aimed at her.)
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