Welcome to our debate club forum, if you have been following us this is our second installment and will analyze the recent first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. We have Zeke “THE” Plummer and Kate “THE” Queen from opposite ends of the political spectrum joining us today for their analysis of the debate.
Be’spoke Boss: Let’s start with you Zeke since I think Donald Trump had an interesting first presidential debate performance so I’d like to get your overall perspective on it first.
Zeke “THE” Plummer: Look it was a tough first presidential debate it was essentially three on one. He was debating Harris, Muir, and Davis. To give CNN credit their moderators in the first debate with Biden were surprisingly much more evenhanded than what we saw from ABC. I don’t know if I mind them fact-checking the candidates but at least if you’re going to do it, do it to both of them. Harris alleges that 140 capitol police officers were injured and some died that day. The reality is no capitol police officers died on January 6th.
These were all arguments that Trump could have and should have been brought up at the debate. You might see some conservative commentators try to sugarcoat and spin it to show that Trump did an amazing job and destroyed Harris. I’m not one of those commentators and while it wasn’t as bad as some of the liberal papers have been gloating about all day there were plenty of missed opportunities.
Be’spoke Boss: Kate what did you think of Harris’ performance at the debate? Did she walk away with the victory or fail to live up to the moment?
Kate “THE” Queen: My girl up there killed it, I didn’t expect her to show up like that. We’ve seen past debates with her where she wasn’t all that so I was concerned heading into it. When she first got up there she sounded nervous and it was obvious she was getting adjusted to the magnitude of the moment. Once she got going though she just hit Trump with one line after another throwing him completely off balance.
He took the bait hook, line, and the damn sinker. For example, in what should have been one of Trump’s strongest segments regarding immigration she hits him about his crowd size and he wastes nearly all his time discussing his rallies instead of going after Biden/Harris on immigration. Like Zeke said enormous amounts of missed opportunities. Harris came prepared, it was clear she did not go into this expecting an easy fight she was well-rehearsed and ready. On the other hand with Trump, the rumors were he was doing mostly informal preparation and the results showed that. Love him or hate him, when Trump does prepare he shows up better much better than he did that night.
Zeke “THE” Plummer: I’m not going to disagree with you completely here, Trump did underwhelm but let’s not act like Harris was so enthralling. We got the usual empty platitudes and stock answers. She offered nothing on her economic policy, no answers for the border, and no answers on if she regrets the Afghanistan withdrawal debacle. Maybe she sounded and looked Presidential I suppose, but the American public will see through this fake facade. One decent debate performance does not make someone a president.
Be’spoke Boss: Hold on, so this brings me to my next question, Kate what do you think Vice President Harris could have done better in this debate?
Kate “THE” Queen: Could have done better? Why are you asking me this question, this is a much better question to pose to Zeke when it’s his candidate who got their ass kicked. Do you want me to grasp at straws to make up something she could have done better?
Be’spoke Boss: You really think she was perfect? There was not one mistake she possibly made when she was up there. No candidate’s debate or presidency for that matter is perfect it doesn’t matter who you are.
Kate “THE” Queen: I’m joking just trying to get Zeke riled. To be honest I did not love all the faces she was making onstage, they just looked phony and staged. One of the problems she has with the American public I think is they view her as fake and phony and making those faces did her no favors. It was like let me give a pensive look, now let me give a look of disbelief, now it’s time for me to give my happy look.
It looked overly staged and came off as fake when watching on the television. You don’t need to have some quizzical look every time Trump is speaking. It’s obvious her handlers told her to do that during this debate and that would connect with the American public but it certainly did not with me.
Be’spoke Boss: That’s a good point I found it very off-putting as well. Same question to you Zeke what could former President Trump have done better during the first presidential debate?
Zeke “THE” Plummer: Similar to Kate’s answer, I did not like the face of Donald Trump onstage most of the time. He was glowering at the camera and never changed his facial expression for nearly the entire ninety minutes. If Harris had too many different faces, Donald Trump did not have enough faces. He seemed to lack the energy we’ve seen from him at past debates where you see him shrug, smile, and act confused at his opponent’s answers. So I would have liked to see more expression from Trump for starters. He’s a charismatic guy and it did not come through on the debate stage that night.
Secondly, he fell for all of Harris’ traps, I seem to be in rare agreement with Kate tonight but your on your bread and butter of immigration, Harris hits you with a dig at your rallies, and instead of focusing on immigration you focus on defending your rally. Nobody watching and certainly not the few undecided voters wanted to hear you defending your rallies, they wanted to hear you tear to pieces the total failure of the border that is the responsibility of “Border Czar” Harris. So in terms of what he should have done better show his usual charisma and not fall for her traps.
Be’spoke Boss: Interesting you both seem to be in some agreement on how the debate went. Either of you, what’s your take on how this first presidential debate will affect the outcome of the election?
Kate “THE” Queen: I mean historically first presidential debates don’t tend to affect the outcome of an election too much. However, when you’re talking about an election that will be this close where it likely comes down to a few thousand voters I can see this being a tipping point. We were used to in the past presidential elections that were decided by wide margins but that has not been the case lately.
What was it 10,000 votes around decided Georgia last time? In a race like this, it’s imperative to win at every event you can and if this tips just some votes to Harris it can make the difference in the race. So to answer your question (unlike Trump) I think there is a likelihood this debate could tip a state or two to Harris’ column.
Zeke “THE” Plummer: In the one poll that seems to have come out since the first presidential debate it actually showed Trump gaining ground after his debate performance.
Kate “ THE” Queen: That’s BS you know it can take weeks for the effects of a debate to be baked into the polls. I’m not sure what poll you’re referring to but new polls coming out show Harris with a five percent lead. Yes, I even linked fox news. So anyone reading this don’t buy into what he just said.
Zeke “THE” Plummer: So harsh.. I’m not saying it’s the only poll I’m just saying it’s a poll after the first presidential debate. Ultimately though I don’t think it will have much effect on the outcome of the election. People will see through the phoniness of Harris and make the right choice come November. This debate will be a thing of the past by then. In an election cycle news moves so fast that what seems historically important today is old news by the end of the week.
Kate “THE” Queen: Just because you want something to be old news because your boy did so bad doesn’t mean that’s what happens. Especially with Trump turning down any future debates which I’m not sure is the right move. Does he really want this to be the last image people have of him on the debate stage? I get your point that news moves so fast during an election cycle but I’m going to reiterate in an election as close as this anything that moves the needle even slightly is a major deal.
Be’spoke Boss: Kate, I do agree with you that when an election is this close you need to fight for every edge possible and I’m not sure not wanting to do another debate is the wisest choice. I think the better move would be for Trump to learn from this first presidential debate and go in on the attack for the next debate with more preparation. Because he is a good debater, everyone has an off night even a great debater like Obama failed miserably against Romney in their first presidential debate.
Anyway, thank you for giving us your insights and analysis of a fairly interesting presidential debate. Both of you made some good points though I think Harris was the clear winner, not that that is the outcome I necessarily preferred, just that it is the truth. Everyone join us next time when we have our next topic for our debate club.
If you like this format check out our other debate club article on Immigration here. Also be sure to leave your comments and let us know who you think won the first presidential debate.
