# Trump and Harris agree to September 10th ABC debate - Watch Along Starts at Post 431 **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump, kamala-harris\ **Created:** [August 8, 2024, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440 "2024-08-08T20:59:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 18
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440/341 "2024-09-10T02:07:37Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > Based on the responses so far, I agree this thread is fine to continue for Debate Watch™. > > If someone offers a compelling reason why a new thread should be started, we can reconsider. But I agree with @Spoons, another thread would create unnecessary confusion about which thread to post in. I agree. And this can also continue on to be the general post-debate analysis thread. > [@needscoffee](#): > > This thread is _already_ several hundred posts long I din’t see that as a problem. We have many long threads that are perfectly usable, including some that reached the 10,000 post limit and started a new cycle. I have a lot more trouble finding posts among many similar threads (“now which thread did I see that in?”) than I do when a single-topic discussion is kept within a single thread. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440/342 "2024-09-10T02:12:26Z")
New thread or this one, I trust my fellow Dopers to do a good job on the play-by-play, since I won’t be watching it for a number of reasons, not least because I CANNOT listen to or even look at The Donald at this point. Thank you all in advance for watching and commenting. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440/343 "2024-09-10T02:21:27Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > I have a lot more trouble finding posts among many similar threads (“now which thread did I see that in?”) than I do when a single-topic discussion is kept within a single thread. Ah, very good point. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440/344 "2024-09-10T02:25:20Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > I have a lot more trouble finding posts among many similar threads (“now which thread did I see that in?”) than I do when a single-topic discussion is kept within a single thread. Thank you for making this point. As someone who must often find posts in varying threads, I much prefer to search one per topic than several. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440/345 "2024-09-10T02:34:42Z")
If Trump is incoherent, she should do as Trump did with Biden. Refer to it. **But only once.** It makes the point with those who accept it, and does not alienate people by looking mean or insensitive. She can rely on other things to persuade those who are persuadable but think Trump makes more sense “live” than by transcript. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440/346 "2024-09-10T02:38:41Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > One debate with The Pig is more than The Pig deserves. Of the seven general election debates Trump has participated in, post-debate pooling showed him doing poorly in all except the last one. Debating him is not a gift. The people who are going to decide this thing have a low opinion of Trump. But a lot of them are used to making their judgement on the candidates at a debate. That isn’t dumb. It makes more sense than judging based on television advertising. [Debates are about choosing your audience](https://wapo.st/4eeJLbL) > [@](#): > > Harris is primarily speaking to a small but meaningful subset of viewers: moderate conservatives and independents who find Trump detestable but who worry that Harris and her party will balloon the size of government and prosecute a retributive culture war. > > These are the voters who, like it or not, will almost certainly decide the margin of victory or defeat in critical states. The most striking number in last week’s wave of polling, I thought, was the 28 percent of likely voters in the [New York Times-Siena College poll](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/09/08/us/politics/times-siena-poll-toplines.html) who said they still need to learn more about Harris. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440/347 "2024-09-10T02:43:27Z")
Well, I didn’t say anything about advertising, or most of what was in your post, but thanks for quoting me. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440/348 "2024-09-10T02:57:03Z")
> … moderate conservatives and independents who find Trump detestable but who worry that Harris and her party will balloon the size of government and prosecute a retributive culture war. One of Harris’s major tasks, I think, is to define herself as a moderate who will run a responsible government, and not the radical that Trump tries to make her out to be, and that he’s repeating exactly the same lies he said about Biden in 2020, even using exactly the same words. The segues nicely into exposing Trump as a serial liar who can’t be trusted on anything, who not only lies about Harris and Walz, but just about everything else, too. I’m sure the debate will turn up many examples, because he just can’t help himself, and is only dimly aware of actual facts anyway. Trump needs to be exposed as an existential threat to democracy, one who’s already engaged in election interference, fomented an insurrection to stay in power, and directly threatened Harris supporters. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440/349 "2024-09-10T03:16:31Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Also, significant “sane-washing” by the media. But yeah, he’d have to basically drop a slur or have a stroke on stage for him to “lose” the debate. I’m hoping something like that will happen, honestly. It’s a long shot, but it would be so sweet. It would have to be a bad slur, or a very visible sign of infirmity. > [@needscoffee](#): > > I think a new thread is a very good idea. I would prefer a new thread, as it would be nice to be able to find the start of the actual watch-along. But maybe this thread would need to be closed for that to work ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440/350 "2024-09-10T03:18:04Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I would prefer a new thread, as it would be nice to be able to find the start of the actual watch-along. But maybe this thread would need to be closed for that to work This would be my slight preference, too: close this one, open a new one. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440/351 "2024-09-10T03:19:31Z")
A vote for a dedicated watch thread. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440/352 "2024-09-10T03:21:03Z")
We’re now tied, 4-4, same thread for watch v. dedicated thread for watch. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440/353 "2024-09-10T03:23:20Z")
I vote same thread. I like limiting the number of threads I’m following and it’s easier to stay with one thread. I’m frankly already confused with the number of “Kamala” threads plus the number of “Walz” threads. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440/354 "2024-09-10T03:33:57Z")
You could stop at five or six threads… or just one. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440/355 "2024-09-10T03:45:09Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > We’re now tied, 4-4, same thread for watch v. dedicated thread for watch. We’re now 5-4 for same thread. Plus, I think your own preference for keeping the same thread should carry extra weight. You asked for a “compelling reason” to start a separate watch-along thread. I still haven’t seen such a compelling reason. I’ve seen good reasons to keep a single thread. I’ll also point out that a lot of points are being made here that will be relevant to watch-along commentary and post-debate commentary. Closing this thread will basically take all those comments out of the loop. It doesn’t really solve the problem of many similar threads where I want to comment on something I saw earlier but can’t remember which of several similar threads it was in. > [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > You could stop at five or six threads… or just one. Indeed. Maybe Trump or Harris will do or say something extraordinary, so let’s spin off a fourth thread on that one extraordinary thing. And then a fifth thread on “how the debate affected the polling numbers”. 🙄 And since all threads naturally meander around the intended main topic, pretty soon you’ve got a disorganized mess where it’s impossible to find anything! ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440/356 "2024-09-10T03:47:42Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Maybe Trump or Harris will do or say something extraordinary, so let’s spin off a fourth thread on that one extraordinary thing. And then a fifth thread on “how the debate affected the polling numbers”. 🙄 And since all threads naturally meander around the intended main topic, pretty soon you’ve got a disorganized mess where it’s impossible to find anything! If it’s any consolation, they’ll all get locked by Wednesday afternoon due to hijacks and then we’ll have to start a new thread with a slightly different title. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440/357 "2024-09-10T03:50:54Z")
We rarely lock threads permanently for hijacking, so that’s a bit unfair. The general posture of the Board is to leave threads open unless they become a real problem for some reason. * * * Re continuing the same thread for the debate, I’ve put my own vote in that column. But I’ll do this: I’ll confer with my fellow P&E mods, and we’ll decide. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440/358 "2024-09-10T04:02:19Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > If Trump is incoherent, she should do as Trump did with Biden. Refer to it. **But only once.** _‘Holy fuck, that guy sounds as incoherent as Biden did, amirite?’_ ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440/359 "2024-09-10T05:17:12Z")
I’m hoping that Kamala has a few tricks up her sleeve: a key word or phrase that infuriates trump into going off on an insane rant. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440/360 "2024-09-10T05:24:19Z")
I vote for “same thread,” plus a suggestion to edit the title to say “(watch-along starts in post X)” when the debate actually begins and we know what X is. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440.md?page=17) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440.md?page=19)