Get your hip boot on, it’s debate day in America. You’ll probably want some nose plugs too, as it’s going to get really smelly around here.
What can we expect from the debate? I suspect we’ll be hearing a lot of challenging of Donald Trump from the moderators and Kamala Harris. Since the mics will be muted when the other person is talking, Kamala can’t use her pathetic “I’m speaking” garbage, but that will not stop her from scrambling for the victim card.
How can she do that? She did it against Joe Biden in 2020, whining that she was bused to help integrate schools in Berkeley, California, when she was a kid. Forget the fact that she claims to have grown up in Oakland, when she really grew up privileged in Berkeley before moving to the “mean streets” of Montreal. Yeah, you didn’t have a hard-scramble life when both your parents have PhDs, sorry.
So, how will Kamala claim victimhood? Easily: with her name.
Donald Trump mispronounces “Kamala” the same way almost everyone does. The way Joe Biden has, but it’s only racist when a Republican does it.
Kamala Harris will correct him the first chance she gets.
I think it’s stupid, but it would be good if Trump never said her first name to take this away. She’s “Vice President Harris” throughout the whole thing.
Why does it matter, you’re probably asking, or you’re mad at me for saying it does. I can tell.
Well, it matters because tomorrow and every day after for all eternity there will only be one thing that is remembered from this debate, and Donald Trump should do everything possible to make sure it isn’t Kamala scolding him for pronouncing her name in whatever way she determines is incorrect at the moment.
How can I say that? What do you remember from any other presidential debate you’ve ever seen? From the one we just had where Trump knocked out Biden, it was Trump saying he had no idea what Biden just said and neither did he. Anything from the 2020 debates stick out? Just that they were snippy with each other, but nothing that was said. And with Hillary? Trump saying she should be in jail. In 2012 it was Candy Crowley jumping in to incorrectly “correct” Mitt Romney.
The further you go back, the fuzzier the memories get. But if you remember anything from any of them, I bet it’s just one thing. The George W. Buch “nod” when Al Gore crowded him, George H. W. Bush checking his watch (1992) or his “Read my lips, no new taxes” line from 1988.
Debates are about that moment. It’s stupid, it’s a sad commentary on where we are as a society that something insignificant and, ultimately, unimportant can be the difference maker on something as important as a presidential election.
You can’t be afraid of them, otherwise it will impact how you conduct yourself on the stage, but you need to be aware of what the other side is likely to try to do so you can avoid backing into that buzzsaw. You can’t see every landmine, but you damn well better have a plan for not stepping in the bear trap in the middle of the sidewalk on a bright, sunny day.
Trump can count on the questioners from ABC News to be hostile towards him, with questions about how racist he or some random person tangentially connected to him is or some random out-of-context quote being weaponized as an attack.
Harris can expect zero follow-ups. Anything she says will be ignored, as it has to be when you can find video of her saying the exact opposite just a couple of years ago. She’s finally added an issues page to her website, which is full of empty calorie words about things – honestly, an adult using so many words without saying anything makes the perfect running mate for Tim Walz, who famous claimed his hearing issues caused him to fail a field sobriety test for a DUI. No word on how tinnitus cost him the breathalyzer and blood test, but whatever – there won’t be any questions about that either.
If Trump sticks to the issues, he wins. Democrats are terrible on those and responsible for everything bad right now. The lines, “Why didn’t you do that already?” and “Why don’t you do that now?” should be heavily featured, as there is no comeback for them for Democrats.
As long as Trump brings any question back to inflation, prices and the border, he wins. If he follows Kamala down a rabbit hole or spends time trying to explain where he stands on abortion, she lives for the sprint to election day. I’m rooting for discipline.