No debating about closing the ol' tabs ...
“I believe Kamala Harris won the debate. It wasn’t a knockout, but won the debate last night … I woke up this morning and saw ‘Kamala Harris destroys Donald Trump,’ ‘The Beginning of the End for Trump.’ It’s like, man, we’ve been down this road, right? … He’s not going to just go away,” Cillizza said. “I think a lot of people on the left are waiting for this like magic wand to be waved for everyone’s like, ‘Oh, wait a minute, I actually don’t support Donald Trump anymore.'”
“I think so he mostly did what he does. Like this idea that he melted down feels to me like the same people who say, like, ‘Things are getting much worse for Donald Trump, he’s panicking.’ I’m like, he’s been like this since he came down the gold escalator in 2015. Not that much has changed,” he added. “And to my mind, if you were for Donald Trump, there’s nothing in that debate that’s going to take you off that. If you’re for Harris, there’s nothing in that debate’s going to take you off it.”
Ed: I think Harris' 'win' is mainly a product of expectation setting. Otherwise, Cillizza is correct; Trump was Trump.
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UNEARTHED: ABC News Debate Moderator LINSEY DAVIS brags about being sorority sisters with Kamala Harris! pic.twitter.com/0MK3iSeE4R
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) September 12, 2024
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If you switched off the sound for the ABC debate Tuesday night and just watched the images, you would come away feeling deep distaste for the haughty flibbertigibbet who kept making faces while Trump was speaking.
Harris’ split-screen pantomime made her seem unserious and unlikable and was clearly designed for the sort of viral “Brat Girl” moments on social media her juvenile campaign staff imagines are vote winners. Kween!
In reality, the novelty value is short-lived and even the Taylor Swift demographic will come to see it as unbecoming.
Ed: It reminded me of Al Gore 2000 on steroids, but ... it's a different country than it was 24 years ago, too. I don't think voters will punish Harris for it, but I don't think it helps with anyone outside of the core voters that would support her regardless.
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Usher just bodied Joy Behar for trying to bully him into supporting Kamala Harris.
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) September 12, 2024
🔥 pic.twitter.com/uvRhhavXOS
Ed: I deeply respect this answer, and I have no idea how he will vote.
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Trump could have put Harris on the defensive in the debate by recalling these stances, pointing to criminal illegal migrants like the predator who killed University of Georgia student Laken Riley, and chronicling some of her past rhetoric on the topic, including likening ICE agents to the KKK in 2018. Instead, he painted with too broad a brush, portraying migrants as pet-eating monsters who are “destroying the fabric of our country.” Republicans love to hear such rhetoric, but it’s unlikely to win over undecideds.
The Harris campaign could have pushed back on the Axios story, but it didn’t. And Harris could have clarified her stance on immigration and the border wall in the debate, but she had no incentive to do so. Unless the media does its job and presses the vice president to answer basic questions, voters will be forced to guess whether Harris has indeed changed course—or if she intends to pursue the hard-left immigration agenda that she has articulated in the past.
Ed: This is why Harris won't do interviews or press conferences. She doesn't have any answers to these questions.
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Kamala says she will provide a "new way forward" with a "new generation of leadership."
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) September 12, 2024
Literally 20 seconds later she boasts about having the endorsements of government bureaucrats from the 1990's and Iraq war architects from a failed administration. pic.twitter.com/6dRczJri8G
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The biggest loser of the debate, of course, was ABC News and the media. The fact that we’ve had a host of stories, including at TIME magazine, where editors have had to jump in and issue corrections saying, “Well, actually we found out Kamala really did endorse transgender surgery for illegal jailed migrants” is not a good look. Nor is the very evident spin on behalf of hosts David Muir and Linsey Davis, whose choice of questions and constant “fact checking” of Trump’s comments proved disruptive and partisan, instead of just letting the people judge for themselves.
One key sign that bolsters the “Kamala actually lost” theory is that she’s asking for another debate. If it was truly a clear win, she wouldn’t want to re-engage. Instead, campaign surrogates are out there today saying that she should debate on Fox News. If she wants another go-round, Trump should agree to it to redeem his lackluster performance — but it’s also a sign that even if she came out better than him this week, it wasn’t the knockout she needed in a campaign that seems to be faltering behind where Joe Biden had Democrats just a few months ago.
Ed: Adam thinks the same thing. I think they're too caught up in 'vibes' to realize she lost, and Harris just wants another opportunity to go after Trump on stage.
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Watch CNN's @abbydphillip get instantly ratioed by the entire panel for lying about Kamala's plan to ban fracking pic.twitter.com/oL7gqh1Pvx
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) September 12, 2024
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Nothing new to see here. You already know who both these people are, and no one showed anything particularly different on Tuesday.
There were a couple of good zingers from Trump, but nothing worth spending 2.5 hours of your life to see.
We don’t need another one of these. There is no point except for the soundbites. At this point, Trump appearing with one of the most unpopular Democrat candidates of all time can only help her pathetic attendance numbers. It’s free advertising for her. He needn’t bother.
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Quite the difference!!! #Trump2024 pic.twitter.com/j6LFQdyeXx
— Karli Bonne’ 🇺🇸 (@KarluskaP) September 12, 2024
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