debate!

Given the time difference and my general lack of interest, I didn't watch the Trump-Harris debate. I'm still plowing through the commentary, though (see here, for example), and the largest complaint I'm seeing is how the ABC moderators kept "fact-checking" Trump while leaving Kamala's lies alone. Trump knew this going in, though—that the process was going to be unfair. He can rest assured that few minds were changed: this close to the election, most people know whom they're voting for, and anyone who's wavering at this point is probably just stupid. I'll be interested to hear what my usual go-to commentators have to say about the night, though. Expect more meta-commentary soon.

Zero Fact Checks on Harris is the Real Story of the Debate

The Debate

Vince Dao: "TV Polls Favor Trump"...?

Instapundit: 

"IN THE END[,] I AGREE WITH STEVE ON THE DEBATE, BUT I’VE BEEN GETTING REPORTS OF [THE] SOFT LEFT [BEING] REALLY PUT OFF BY HARRIS. OH, THEY’LL NEVER VOTE FOR TRUMP, BUT THEY MIGHT SIT OUT:  The word on the debate."

The bias of the moderators makes it impossible to experience what each candidate’s policies are. It’s a shame really, because she’ll go back into hiding and we will never get to hear her positions. When will we ever get debates with objective moderators?

— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) September 11, 2024

So who won? The rightie commentariat is saying Trump won or at least held his own in an unfair fight. Of course. The leftie media are saying Kamala won. Of course.

Stephen Green comments:

The Dems got what they wanted tonight. The Progressive Axis — Harris and her ABC News foils — got under Trump’s skin and stayed there. Just as importantly, Harris was able to fire off her scripted talking points without interruption, correction, or serious questions. 

So that part sucked.

The part that didn’t suck is that Harris didn’t do that thing Biden somehow managed in 2020 — to come across as likable. What I think most people saw was two people they didn’t particularly like. The difference is, they already knew they didn’t like Trump. Harris’s unlikability might have been news to them.

And, hey, don’t shoot the messenger here. I’m just talking about both candidates’ favorability ratings.

The State Steno Pool will chalk it up as a massive Harris win but I’m not sure how many viewers will actually buy it. Do they buy anything the SSP is selling anymore?

If there is another debate, I hope Trump preps harder. And mostly I want his coaches to push his buttons like an irate pedestrian stabbing at the crosswalk button. PUSH PUSH PUSH. He can rein it in — he just lacked the discipline tonight to do it.

But in the end, can anyone stand to listen to THAT VOICE for the next four or eight years?

Will there be another debate? Most say no; some say maybe.