The first (and maybe final) presidential debate has come and gone, and the race to the White House is quickly reaching its climax. Last night, the candidates quickly worked to jab and poke at the other to try and provoke a response that’ll even marginally move the numbers in this statistically tied race. Many of the candidate’s responses reflected the pressing nature of these last 54 days until the explosive end of this campaign. Aside from the sound bites, pointed insults, and “zingers,” this analysis will also hone in on the specific policy planks that each candidate proposed and defended, as well as the debate overall.
Kamala Harris
Strategy
The articles detailing Harris’s debate preparation prior to the debate were accurate: Harris attempted to help change voters’ perception of not knowing her policies. In an NYT Siena poll, 47% of registered voters said they did not clearly know what Harris stood for; this perception and a myriad of poll numbers show that Harris’s momentum coming into September has faded, and we’re right back in a dead heat. From the opening statement, it was clear that Harris’s strategy was to introduce specific policy platforms and, in a way, almost ignore Donald Trump’s insults while also landing her own to get under his skin. This was broadly evident throughout the whole debate, where she landed jabs and proposals that starkly contrasted the meandering Biden from the June 27th presidential debate.
On the subject of Biden, Harris delicately walked the tightrope of towing the administration line on issues like fracking while also reminding the former President that she is her own candidate and not Joe Biden. This delicate line became evident from the first seconds of the debate, where she refused to directly answer if the Biden administration’s economic record was better than the Trump administration’s; in response, Harris launched her plans of building an “opportunity economy” for all Americans. The “opportunity economy” has drawn parallels to Al Gore’s “lockbox” usage in 2000 in reference to Social Security. In all this, Harris reminded Trump and the American people that she is not Biden but a breath of fresh air and substantive change for America.
Harris’s Moments
Harris had specific moments where she landed jabs at Trump that were particularly memorable. When the conversation turned to foreign policy and America’s stance in the world, Trump repeatedly stated that if he had not been President, the war in Gaza and Ukraine would’ve never happened. When pressed by the moderators about who he’d rather have won the war in Ukraine, Trump refused to give a concrete answer. Sensing an opportunity, Harris pounced upon Trump’s approach and stated, “And why don’t you tell the 800,000 Polish Americans right here in Pennsylvania how quickly you would give up for the sake of favor and what you think is a friendship with what is known to be a dictator who would eat you for lunch.” In continued aggression, Harris threw more digs at Trump aimed at his refusal to accept the results of the Presidential election: “Donald Trump was fired by 81 million people.”
On the subject of the electoral campaign, Harris hit Trump’s pressure point: his campaign rally size and the “odd” subjects he frequently speaks about, ranging from bathroom showers to Hannibal Lecter. Since 2016, Trump has always given effusive praise to his rallies as “the biggest in American history.” When Harris decided to mock his crowd size, Trump spent the final minutes right entering the hour mark of the debate relitigating the 2020 election as Harris pressed his most sensitive button; aside from these zingers, Harris attempted to present her political vision to America.
“81 million people fired you”
Kamala Harris
Policy Proposals
Harris’s strength stemming from embodying the “hope and change” candidate to many has been diluted by the prevailing perception that many voters don’t know her stances. During this debate, Harris offered some policy/foreign policy proposals with concrete numbers but also offered stances different from those she offered in the past.
The policy proposals include a suite of economic policies: beginning with tax plans, Harris pledged to increase the tax deduction for new small businesses from 5,000 to 50,000 dollars. On housing, she touted her plan of providing new homeowners who have paid their rent on time for two years 25,000 in down-payment assistance. This suite was all encompassing as she pledged a massive expansion to the child tax credit; she also pledged to codify the protections of Roe vs Wade in an emotional segment where she called Trump’s stance “unconscionable,” even though she refused to say whether she would allow abortions into the 8th or 9th month.
Harris seemed to fluctuate on various policy issues regarding the environment, Gaza, and the border.
On the environment, Harris pledged to support fracking as she stated that the administration’s record clearly supported fracking and that the levels of domestic production have soared to “record highs” during the Biden administration, stating emphatically that “…I was the tie-breaking vote on the Inflation Reduction Act, which opened new leases for fracking.” This is in marked contrast to her 2019 statements on fracking, where she supported an end to the practice of fracking; Harris offered her climate positions in a half/halfway stance, where she did not support the end of fracking with the caveat of acknowledging the existential nature of climate change, but she fell short of explaining her plans.
The border was another issue she attempted to appear strong on: she pointed to her empathic stance on the border when, only four years ago, she offered the expansion of asylum and a more “humanitarian approach” from the then-Trump administration. She attacked the former President for sinking the bi-partisan border bill that would’ve “added 1,500 officers” to the border.
On the Gaza situation, Harris offered a strong “pro-Israel” stance with the stipulation that Israel could defend itself within reason, with emphasis placed upon a two-state solution that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been against.
Donald Trump
Strategy
Trump’s strategy coming into the debate was to rely upon his confidence in his ability to debate. Prior to the debate, he states he did not need any formal prep because he considered himself to be a champion debater and the huff of confidence he gained after Biden’s dramatic exit from the race. His advisors, however, hammered in the theme of Kamala Harris’s “flip-flopping” and the line that if she’s proposing all these different policies why hasn’t she implemented them yet? This attack wasn’t debuted until the later end of the debate where he referenced the Biden’s administration failure to secure student debt relief; Trump pointed at this failure and applied it to Harris’s pledge to get Roe v. Wade codified into law saying she’d “never had the votes” and that all she does is promise and promise and never actually deliver anything.
Trump’s lines the whole night stemmed from attack after attack of the Biden administration record.
“I’m speaking- sound familiar?”
Donald Trump
Trump’s Moments
Amidst the increasingly contentious presidential debate alongside democratic opponent Kamala Harris, Donald Trump expressed his dissent in his typical fashion- ceaseless tantrums, side-bars with the debate moderators, and ineffable expressions; in sum, depleting his debate presence as seen from the previous presidential debate against President Biden June 27th– a triumphant reputation that would come down to his public demise. Here are some highlights from his theatrical performance.
Among pertinent domestic issues showcased on the global stage last night, Trump used nearly 2 minutes of his allotted speaking time to discuss his concerns over border control and mass immigration- during a non-linear discussion on U.S. economic policy and future economic leadership. After Harris beamed about her “Opportunity Economy” plans fueled on promises to encourage small businesses and empower the middle/working class, Trump decided to oust the source of our debated economic woes on illegal immigration trends- backing these incredible claims by recalling oddly specific instances of violence enacted within local immigrant communities, stating, “…they’re eating the dogs. The people that came in, they’re eating the cats… they’re eating the pets of the people that live there”.
A crucial turning point in the debate came when Harris began to jab at the former President’s rally sizes: the former President immediately jumped to attack the claim “She said people start leaving. People don’t go to her rallies,” Trump said. “So she can’t talk about that. People don’t leave my rallies.” Adding, “we have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics”. These outbursts, though intended to catalyze his audience’s morale in MAGA republicans, seriously blundered his appearance of bare minimum decorum throughout the debate, leaving viewers skewed to Harris’s calm, and collected approach- one praised publicly through Taylor Swift’s immediate endorsement of the Harris-Walz campaign, rebuking the use of false, AI generated, Trump endorsement materials- clearing the path for Kamala’s greater exposure, and lead in the national polls.
Aside from these mistaken moments throughout the debate, Trump did recognize and expand upon other aspects of the ABC moderated debate that weren’t as politicized in the moment (take that with a grain of salt): his succession of his self professed ideas of “lousy” ObamaCare (Affordable Care Act) healthcare insurance benefits democratizing affordable healthcare to our citizens, even with intentions to dismantle the legislation plan and start from the ground up on his own political venture. At his next breath, he revealed he would do so, with “concepts of a plan”- presumably, the most transparent comment uttered during the debate on both ends.
Policy Proposals
Trump’s policy proposals were comparatively scarce after he repeatedly attacked the Biden/Harris administration for “record high inflation” and the border. Trump launched attack after attack as to how criminals were pouring in from Venezuela and other Latin American countries and “invading” cities like Seattle and jacking up crime rates. The night was dominated by Trump attacking the administration’s record but barely mentioning any plans of his own, and on the subject of the economy, this was the case.
Trump’s economic plan centers around placing hefty 30-40% tariff increases on China and Mexico for goods; some economists have suggested such hefty increases would result in a substantial tax for the American people. Trump also attacked Harris for “copying” his economic policies like his no tax on tips and on social security benefits.
On abortion, Trump flipped-flopped: when the moderators asked him about his stance on the national abortion ban, citing the six weak no, exceptions Florida abortion bill that he denounced, then supported, then denounced again, he gave no concrete answer as to whether he was going to veto a national abortion ban even as the moderators told him of JD Vance’s pledge that Trump would veto such a bill, and Trump stated “truthfully I have not spoken to JD about that.”
Get ready for pandemonium in the next few weeks until Election Day; Bridge of Wills will be with you every step of the way.
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