I would like to share some thoughts regarding the debate last Tuesday evening between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
My first reaction was: good theater, but that is not what the American public was looking for.
Did Harris do a good job? In some respects, yes. She had clearly memorized her taking points and reiterated them over and over without getting specific, but again that is not what the American public was looking for.
This was an opportunity for Harris to lay out her agenda as President. Other than broad generalities, she did not.
Specifically, the first and possibly only hard-hitting question from the ABC moderators to Harris was, “Are Americans better off now than they were four years ago, and what have you done to make American lives better?” Crickets!!!
Harris used her time to offer platitudes and generalities without answering the question directly, something she did nearly every time to every question. But did Trump blow it by not using his response time to point out the obvious, “She didn’t answer the question” -- yes, he did!
Trump in my opinion wasted numerous opportunities to point out that Harris was not telling the American public what she has done as Vice President and more importantly what she will do as President.
Trump also wasted the opportunity to point out Harris’ flip flopping on previous positions such as her opposition to fracking, her opposition to the Boarder Wall, going so far as to say it was a vanity effort on Trumps part, and her newly found support for not taxing tips.
Trump made a huge mistake by taking the bait, numerous times, when Harris got him to respond to her attacks on the size of his rallies and other issues her team had prepared her to point out. None of that helped Trump, and none of that helped the American public watching the debate decide who is best able to lead the country going forward.
Harris offered sweeping visions without specifics on how she would fix the economy, control the surge of migrants and drugs coming across our southern border and how she would end the conflicts erupting around the world in Ukraine and Isarel.
Trump did offer specific details on his border wall, how he would restore our economy to the vibrant and robust economy he handed over to Biden and Harris as well as working with both Russia and Ukraine to end that conflict.
The debate format itself put Trump at a severe disadvantage with both of ABC’s moderators ganging up on him, they fact checked the former President five times while not fact checking Harris even once, despite numerous lies and misstatements on her part. But again, to be fair, Trump did not help himself.
While Harris appeared well-prepared, even scripted, Trumps performance showed a disastrous lack of preparation. One can only assume his last debate performance against an obviously weak and ill-prepared President Biden may have led to a feeling of over confidence on his part.
In the end, did either candidate deliver a knock-out punch, did either candidate move the needle one way or the other, no! But as most people only remember the last thing they heard; I believe Trump scored a serious blow in his closing statement.
Trump stated the obvious, when he pointedly asked Harris, “You have been Vice President for the last threeand- a-half years. Why haven’t you done what you say you will do as President, and most importantly, why don’t you return to Washington, D.C. right now and implement the policies you say you want to implement?”
In the end the comparison between the two is clear, are you better off today than you were 4 years ago? My answer is emphatically NO! That is why I am supporting the reelection of President Trump.
Mr. Haueter is a longtime Republican political activist.
