I really hate these debates. I find them unwatchable. They have become important for all the wrong reasons. They function more along the lines of a sporting event or a cage match. Who wins or loses has more to do with body language and vocal tone, punches that landed and punches that missed, and we learn very little about how either candidate would actually govern. Way too much was made of Trump's debate with Biden in June, and too much is being made of the debate last night.
And I find ridiculous the pundits who complain that the candidates were not substantive or detailed enough in their plans. This is not how American politics has ever worked. We vote for the less bad choice based on general party orientation and values. Republican voters have shown time and again that they generally favor most of the policies that Democrats propose when presented in the abstract, but they won't vote for Democrats because they don't think about the party in policy terms but in terms of general orientation and values.
So the more important political task is not to obsess about policy details but rather to change the general orientation and values of the Democratic Party from Neoliberalism toward something more populist friendly. This is the only way they will have a chance to become a stable majority that will be able to stave off threats from the extremist Right, with or without Trump, that has taken over the GOP. The policy flows from that, and the details get hammered out though the legislative process, not in some inane debate format.
So hoo-ray for Harris; she won the arm wrestling contest with a senile misogynist who can barely complete a sentence. Whether this matters at all to undecided voters I have no idea.
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