# 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:** 79
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2024, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440/1561 "2024-09-12T22:12:34Z")
I finally finished watching the debate and have had time to ponder it. It strikes me that Harris is not a natural improv speaker. She is not the smooth orator of Obama or Walz or Shapiro. She struggled a bit to transition her thoughts. She relied too heavily on catch phrases. However, where she did well was connecting with her audience when she could engage emotionally. Abortion was a great topic, hitting on the litany of personal stories of harm by the destruction of Roe and ensuing ill-considered anti-abortion legislation. She also did well talking about her own childhood and connecting on how expensive things are. I would have liked to see a bit less deflection, a bit more considered and reasoned answers that explained her positions. But Harris picked a different strategy. And it wasn’t just about insulting Trump, it served a legitimate purpose. Trump has been something of a bizarre case in debate history. His method has been from the early days in 2015 to run with ugly nicknames and insults. So far, that has worked all for him. He has managed to capture a lot of sort support with his targeted attacks. And anyone who has tried to respond in kind has suffered. Even the candidates who haven’t stooped to his level have been tripped up by giving his shots too much credibility. What Harris managed was a masterstroke in finding the one hidden path through the labyrinth. She took the debate to Trump in just the right way to wind him up and push his buttons. That had a couple of key strategic wins for her. First, by playing the right topics, by responding to the question and then diverting to Trump with a pointed question or comment, it really put off his game. He couldn’t focus, as much as Trump can ever focus, on the issues that he could land points. She totally distracted him from any coherent criticism into raging fits. She got him wasting time on bragging and arguing over crowd size and not discussing inflation or the Afghanistan withdrawal. Second, she showed his rants don’t phase her. She belittles him by dismissing him. Third, and this is especially important, she showed how easily Trump can be manipulated. Sure, she did it with disdain instead of flattery, and got hostility instead of compliance, but she demonstrated her point which she do poignantly summed up about how Putin would eat him for lunch. What she accomplished was to turn the tables. You know how there was rightwing talk about how weak she was? The weak with foreign leaders, weak with generals in the Situation Room? Well this just showed she is not an indecisive weak person who will be walked all over. That was the ultimate value of this strategy. Anyone who tries to claim she cannot be strong, that she will be a pushover, just had that demonstrably disproven. So the wins are 1. Trump is unhinged and shouldn’t be allowed in control again. 2. Trump is old and should be pitied, not praised. 3. Harris is smart. 4. Harris is no pushover. 5. Harris has a positive plan to help Americans, Trump only has grievances and revenge. Also considered that this format has stopped being a platform for sharing big ideas, or especially reasoned explanations for behaviors and changing positions. Those just set up soundbite and meme fodder to be used against you. My hope is that she can get some help with practicing more natural responses. Then she will take on some more interviews, where she will take on more nuanced answers to those questions about changing political positions. How things went wrong with Afghanistan. Why the high inflation is not her fault and why her economic plan will get prices down and wages up. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2024, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440/1562 "2024-09-12T22:16:05Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Why do you think MAGA has still been able to recruit more people even after all Trump has done? Because they _like_ what he’s done, what he says and how he thinks and want more of it. They _want_ the bigotry, the cruelty, the stupidity, the ignorance, the harm done to millions of people. They want _more_ of it. It may drive everyone else away, but the people who follow him love and admire the very things most people here on SD condemn. As for the famous “undecided”, I expect most of them are people who always intended to vote for Trump but don’t want to publicly admit it; or people who have a Trumpist watching them they are afraid to answer the question honestly around (as as the Trumpist husbands who want to follow their wife as she votes to make sure she “votes right”). Not people who are _actually_ undecided, not at this point. ---
**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 12, 2024, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440/1563 "2024-09-12T22:17:08Z")
You can’t please all the people all the time, and nothing Harris did would please diehard Trump supporters. Obviously, the right thing for Harris to do was to take the debate seriously and practice heavily. Sure, some lines were obviously rehearsed and some opportunities were missed. But this does not matter. Harris ate Trump’s lunch. Others will be able to use similar strategies. And Harris greatly changed how she is perceived. No matter what criticisms rise from the swamp. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2024, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440/1564 "2024-09-12T22:21:45Z")
> [@CoolHandCox](#): > > Then another posted a meme: “when he said they’re giving migrants sex changes I nearly spit out my dog Okay, that’s legit funny. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2024, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440/1565 "2024-09-12T22:24:28Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > [https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/donald-trump-says-he-wont-do-another-debate-with-kamala-harris-c7d8e428?st=e6il1p3gxigv5xv](https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/donald-trump-says-he-wont-do-another-debate-with-kamala-harris-c7d8e428?st=e6il1p3gxigv5xv) I really don’t know why any news outlet reports these statements from Trump as if they mean anything. An editor at the Wall Street Journal could cover his eyes, flip through a dictionary, and drop his finger on a random word, and it would mean as much as a prediction or a promise from Donald Trump. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2024, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440/1566 "2024-09-12T22:24:51Z")
A little more fact-checking from overseas. I agree with Harris that most world leaders are laughing at Trump. > **[Trump receives brutal mockery from the German government over false debate claim](https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/reidout-blog/trump-debate-fact-check-germany-energy-rcna170844)** > > Germany’s Foreign Ministry took the time to publicly correct one of Trump’s false claim at the debate, while also mocking him over his racist lie about Haitian immigrants eating pets. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2024, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440/1567 "2024-09-12T22:31:26Z")
If no one else has posted this, it has been reported Trump actually was complimenting her on her debate performance when they shook hands on 9/11. “Good job,” he said. Not sure what she said. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2024, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440/1568 "2024-09-12T22:36:03Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > If no one else has posted this, it has been reported Trump actually was complimenting her on her debate performance when they shook hands on 9/11. > > “Good job,” he said. If so, that’s an amazingly off-brand action on his part; he seems to reserve compliments for people whom he thinks can and will do something for him. ---
**Author:** ![CoolHandCox](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coolhandcox/32/16233_2.png) [@CoolHandCox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoolHandCox)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2024, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440/1569 "2024-09-12T22:38:58Z")
He did the same during a Clinton debate. The question was: Say something nice about each other. Clinton: (canned) He has nice children. [Something nice, but not nice] Trump: Hillary is a skilled tough opponent. [I’m paraphrasing but it was very complimentary and answered the question directly…now, I’d love to see what he actually said and if I’m remembering it right after so many years.] ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2024, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440/1570 "2024-09-12T22:56:14Z")
(Media). Trump performed well, as he did not visibly soil himself and as far as we could tell, did not bite the head off a live bat. Overall, above average for him” ---
**Author:** ![squidfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@squidfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squidfood)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2024, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440/1571 "2024-09-12T23:02:23Z")
> [@CoolHandCox](#): > > Clinton: (canned) He has nice children. [Something nice, but not nice] Also playing the memory game and not searching - I remember her comment was more nice, like “it’s obvious his children love him and came out well so he’s a good parent” or something similar. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2024, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440/1572 "2024-09-12T23:07:41Z")
> [@CoolHandCox](#): > > Clinton: (canned) He has nice children. [Something nice, but not nice] > > Trump: Hillary is a skilled tough opponent. [I’m paraphrasing but it was very complimentary and answered the question directly…now, I’d love to see what he actually said and if I’m remembering it right after so many years.] This appears to be the transcript of their full replies to that question, from [Vanity Fair](https://www.vanityfair.com/video/watch/hillary-clinton-and-donald-trump-say-something-nice-about-each-other). You have the gist of it, though Clinton’s full response was at least somewhat complimentary of Trump himself. > [@Hillary Clinton](#): > > I respect his children. > (audience laughs) His children are > incredibly able, and devoted, > and I think that says a lot about Donald. > I don’t agree with nearly anything else he says or does, > but I do respect that, and I think that is something > that as a mother and a grandmother, is very important to me. > So I believe that this election has become in part, > so, so conflict-oriented, so intense, > because there’s a lot at stake. > [@Donald Trump](#): > > I consider her statement about my children > to be a very nice compliment. > I don’t know is it was meant to be a compliment, > but it is a great, I’m very proud of my children. > And they’ve done a wonderful job > and they’ve been wonderful, wonderful kids. > So I consider that a compliment. > I will say this about Hillary. > She doesn’t quit, she doesn’t give up. > I respect that. > I tell it like it is. > She’s a fighter. > I disagree with much of what she’s fighting for, > I do disagree with her judgment in many cases, > but she does fight hard > and she doesn’t quit and she doesn’t give up. ---
**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 12, 2024, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440/1573 "2024-09-12T23:10:57Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > If so, that’s an amazingly off-brand action on his part; he seems to reserve compliments for people whom he thinks can and will do something for him. Maybe he’s fishing for a pardon. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2024, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440/1574 "2024-09-12T23:21:48Z")
> [@wguy123 quoting Trump](#): > > When a prizefighter loses a fight, the first words out of his mouth are, “I WANT A REMATCH.” And, lessee, _who_ was it wanting another debate after Trump-Biden? > **[Trump Challenges Biden Again To “No Holds Barred” Debate This Week, Tosses In...](https://deadline.com/2024/07/trump-challenges-biden-debate-gold-match-1236005576/)** > > As the incumbent gave a rousing speech for allies, the ex-president wants to take it out on the links ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2024, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440/1575 "2024-09-12T23:31:33Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > A little more fact-checking from overseas. I agree with Harris that most world leaders are laughing at Trump. > > [Trump gets fact-checked by Germany over energy claim at debate with Harris](https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/reidout-blog/trump-debate-fact-check-germany-energy-rcna170844) Facebook is alive with posters making fun of trumps ridiculous pet eating claim. He crossed over into total insanity with that one. Oddly, that one comment may have cost him the election. ---
**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 12, 2024, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440/1576 "2024-09-12T23:55:32Z")
Eh, Facebook is always an echo chamber. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2024, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440/1577 "2024-09-12T23:57:35Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > If no one else has posted this, it has been reported Trump actually was complimenting her on her debate performance when they shook hands on 9/11. > > “Good job,” he said. > > Not sure what she said. Probably something like “Excuse me, I need to go wash my hands.” ---
**Author:** ![CoolHandCox](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coolhandcox/32/16233_2.png) [@CoolHandCox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoolHandCox)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2024, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440/1578 "2024-09-13T00:08:58Z")
Thank you for that. I think I had it fairly right. I remember in the moment how authentic he came across (his answer was not prepared). And I didn’t intentionally mean to dismiss Hillary, just super-paraphrasing to get to Trumps response. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2024, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440/1579 "2024-09-13T00:16:30Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Probably something like “Excuse me, I need to go wash my hands.” Exactly my thought when I saw the video of that interaction. ---
**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 13, 2024, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-harris-agree-to-september-10th-abc-debate-watch-along-starts-at-post-431/1005440/1580 "2024-09-13T00:30:03Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > it has been reported Trump actually was complimenting her on her debate performance when they shook hands on 9/11. > > “Good job,” he said. Where did you see this? [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=78) [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=80)