Not a debate, a circus.  OK, did not watch – too late, too silly and debates are usually just spin fodder anyway.  Been reading and listening for a while now.  It seems to be universal opinion that Trump had a bad night.  But in all the reading that is a very superficial analysis.  The moderators were biased beyond biased, and Harris did not look all that good either.

The host played a montage of the moderator questions.  They were not asking questions – they were attacking Trump.  Says the Washington Times:

Mr. Trump, as he predicted, was up against not only the Democratic nominee but also ABC’s moderators for most of the night. David Muir and Linsey Davis rarely asked tough questions of Ms. Harris, if at all, while hitting Mr. Trump with questions seemingly calculated to get a rise out of him,….

What’s truly fascinating is that when they got near a substantive question for Harris, she dodged.  Ryan Mills at NR’s review, “Harris dodged questions…,” “She did little to explain away her changing positions on a variety of issues….”  She lacked so much substance last night that the Beeb coverage felt obliged to add Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Harris in its headline.

So, the moderators were in the bag for Harris by most accounts and Harris had no substance, also by most accounts, how did she “win?”  Simple, she, and the moderators, baited him, he took the bait and lost his temper.  Style over substance.  The NYTimes published an “opinion piece, transcribing a discussion between two of their op-ed writers and I think this sums it up best:

Well, what does it mean to take Trump down? I feel like she humiliated him. I feel like there was something very cathartic in having somebody finally say to his face, that you’re a disgrace.

There it is, really – ultimate liberal.  It’s not about anything that matters, it’s about humiliating those on the other side.  So, in sum, she “won” by lacking substance and dismissing her opponent.

The American people will not stand for that.  Style just might carry the day when times are good, but times are not good.  The world is aflame with regional conflicts in Eastern Europe/Russia and the Middle East – both of which could easily expand beyond regional status.  Crime is running rampant.  Inflation has driven home ownership out of reach of the average American and groceries are getting there.  The Administrative State is amok.  Trump has not been president for the last four years; he did not get us in this hole.  We need policy and leadership.  Harris offered neither last night and Trump offered both.

And at bottom, let’s really think about style.  Even if Harris wins the election, it’ll be close.  Do we really want a president that will rely on humiliating half the nation?  Suddenly the “deplorables” and “clinging to God and guns” comments look downright complimentary.  Half the country is not going to spend the next four years being insulted to the point of humiliation.