TONIGHT (Sep. 10) 9pm ET: Presidential debate live chat
Speak your mind live on YouTube during the Harris/Trump debate
Click below to watch, share the link or make a reminder notification
No, they won’t be held to the same standards. Yes, it’s still worth watching.
Pres. Biden ended his re-election run after a disastrous performance at CNN’s presidential debate back in June. Ever since Vice Pres. Kamala Harris began her run for the White House, many have wondered what it would mean for former President Trump. By many accounts she’s been prepping hard while on the campaign trail. He has been practicing very little, if at all.
“He doesn’t get ready,” said former Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) on ABC’s This Week. Christie oversaw debate prep for Trump’s 2016 and 2020 campaigns. “It was a constant struggle. There were times when we would go and debate prep would be scheduled. We’d go in to sit with him, and he would just say, ‘No, I’m not doing it.’ And that would be it.”
Meanwhile, Harris supporters hope she sticks to laying out her agenda despite any distractions or digressions.
“She is a very focused and disciplined leader,” said Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg on CNN’s State of the Union. He helped Harris prep for her 2020 debate against former VP Mike Pence. “But it will take almost superhuman focus and discipline to deal with Donald Trump in the debate. It’s no ordinary proposition. Not because Donald Trump is a master of explaining policy ideas and how they’re gonna make people better off. It’s because he’s a master of taking any form or format that is on television and turning it into a show that is all about him."
In many ways this debate will be about Donald Trump regardless of who’s speaking. When he has the floor — and his mic is momentarily unmuted — it’ll be about how he handles this format that he’s shown such disregard for. When she has the floor, it’ll be a test of how composed and trenchant she can be: qualities befitting any president. I suspect that, for many viewers, the key questions will be: can she perform, and can he behave?
Some commentators lament that VP Harris must meet higher standards than former Pres. Trump, an example of an unreasonable double standard. To them I ask: what other standard do you want? If we hold Donald Trump to Kamala Harris's standards, then we ignore the will of the voters who actually support him. They’ve already decided that “standard” doesn’t really matter in his case, frustrating as that is to his critics. Unless he has a genuinely unforgivable night, don’t expect it to shake his base.
But if we don’t hold Kamala Harris to that standard, then Democrats run the risk of cheapening all the accolades they heaped on her at the Democratic National Convention in August. Speaker after speaker praised her for being poised, polished, warm and wise. They set the bar Harris must clear. What sense would it make not to judge her as she and the Party asked for her to be judged? They could’ve chosen just to fling Trump’s insults back at him. Instead she and her running mate Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) chose to be forceful but uplifting. That’s what we should expect tonight.
Personally, the standard that feels most unclear is the one we should set for ABC News and its moderators, David Muir and Linsey Davis. This will be the second presidential debate since the apparent implosion of the Commission on Presidential Debates. The nonprofit had produced decades of debates until various controversies created an opening for commercial networks to directly fill. I’m counting on the moderators to focus on policy, not personality. At this stage of the race we have too many important questions to ask about the candidates’ plans for this country. I don’t really care right now what they may think of each other, and I hope the moderators don’t ask too many questions along that line. We’ll see.
Whatever happens, I know that watching news events like this is always better with smart, thoughtful people like you. I hope you’ll take the invitation to chat live with me on debate night, starting just before 9pm ET. ABC’s decision to have two commercial breaks (unheard of in the old Commission’s broadcasts) gives us a chance to discuss your thoughts during the 90-minute program. Feel free to add your reactions and questions to the chat anytime. I’ll keep an eye out for any reputable fact checks worth sharing. And share your overall reactions after the debate concludes.
I’ll start the show on YouTube at 8:50pm ET, about ten minutes before the debate. Click this link or the player window above to start the show, and share the link with a friend. See you tonight.
https://www.youtube.com/live/KshYIoaBwgU?si=wtqghosj3xY1o77K