Debate Night: A 98-minute long advertisement for limited government

Last night’s presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and Kamala Harris will likely be the last one of the 2024 contest for the White House.

In the first debate of the cycle, President Joe Biden TKOed himself. Trump wasn’t so lucky with Harris. Both candidates threw punches, at times wildly, but neither landed a decisive blow.

And while the CNN “refs” in the first debate exercised caution against playing favorites, ABC’s David Muir and Linsey Harris showed none of that restraint. Both actively engaged in debating Trump, while offering almost no critical challenge to his opponent.

Harris, to her debate credit, played rope-a-dope with Trump, baiting him repeatedly with distractions. Trump swung at those, and while off target, missed some obvious openings.

Trump needed to tie Harris to the Biden administration and demonstrate past radicalism. The polls continue to show Biden with anemic approval ratings, including on the two biggest issues of the election — inflation and immigration.

Missed Openings in Presidential Debate

The former president jabbed at these issues, but did not land many convincing combinations. Groceries today cost nearly 30 percent more than four years ago. Gas and utilities are even more expensive. Bad policy caused inflation and continues to wreak havoc on America’s working families. It happened on the Biden-Harris watch.

Harris’ solution in the present moment is to ignore the causes of inflation and institute price controls, something economists across the board recognize as horrific policy.

America has experienced an unprecedented surge of illegal immigration over the last 3.5 years, as the Biden-Harris administration reversed Trump’s “remain in Mexico” policy for asylum seekers. An increase in foreign nationals from hostile nations from China to the Middle East, in individuals on the U.S.’s terror watchlist, and in members of Venezuelan crime syndicate Tren de Arugua, have all been documented. City budgets are stretched to the brink.

The crisis at the border occurs against the backdrop of a candidate in Harris, who was tasked with controlling the border by Biden, and who previously, advocated for decriminalizing illegal entry and expanding access to U.S. welfare programs for migrants. Harris also compared border control agents to the Ku Klux Klan in the past.

On energy, Harris not only has supported a ban on fracking. As a U.S. Senator she signed on to support the Green New Deal, which would grant the federal government near total control of our economy in the name of fighting climate change. Harris also co-sponsored a “climate equity” bill with Democratic firebrand Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Harris supports abortion up until birth. Her running mate made bones in Minnesota creating a sanctuary for what amounts to gender experiments on vulnerable minors.

Finally, it’s beyond much legitimate debate that the world is less safe today. The crisis at the border, the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the Hamas attack on Israel all occurred under the Biden-Harris administration.

On Hamas, Harris is walking a tightrope between Jewish supporters and a very vocal element in her own party that is anti-Semitic. Trump might have forced her to condemn some of the more egregious elements of recent campus protests, but he never made the push.

Harris Avoided Blows, Held Own in Presidential Debate

Trump’s best moment was a flurry before the final bell in which he made the point that Harris had the power to address inflation, immigration, and the other chief concerns of the American people over the last 3.5 years.

But he never expressed how he would solve these problems, himself. Confronted with a question about Obamacare, for instance, Trump could not articulate an actual plan. Instead he vaguely referenced “concepts for a plan.”

Nearly eight years into the political arena, one of his biggest liabilities remains his seeming unwillingness to learn policy basics.

For most of the bout, Harris dodged and weaved attacks. She blunted the biggest criticisms against the Biden administration and repeatedly presented herself as the candidate to “turn the page.”

Still, it’s unclear how well she can sell to the American people that she is the “change” candidate. The public knows she is vice president. And even without a clear roadmap establishing her culpability, the public knows it’s harder to pay for food or fill up their tank these days. They know the border is a problem and global conflict is on the rise.

Republicans set the bar low for the Vice President in recent weeks by suggesting she was unable to answer hard questions and was ducking interviews. Harris likely put that line of attack to bed, or at least dented it.

She landed some potent combinations that could impact the much vaunted “undecided” voters in battleground states. Her cases on the former president’s legal problems and January 6th were well-constructed.

Zooming Out from Presidential Debate

As a matter of pure debate analysis, Harris edged out Trump slightly last night. In the grand scheme, the event probably is a draw. There will be negligible impact on the race, itself. People who planned to vote for Trump or Harris before the debate still plan to vote that way.

Two thoughts occurred to me watching the whole sordid affair, though. First, I miss the days of drawn out and nuanced debates on the intricacies of tax policy, the debt and deficit, or on the geopolitical threat of Russia.

I may just be a nerd. My nostalgia may be creating false memories. But listening to the debate unfold, America seems like a less serious place than it used to be.

Whether you’re a hardcore MAGA guy or a Kamala revolutionary, it should be difficult to watch last night’s scrum and not have a desire for limited government rekindled in your soul. We simply should not put this much stock in one office, regardless of its occupant.

Second, last night was a debate, but today is the anniversary of 9/11. Every year, I spend time watching documentaries and footage from that day. The videos and images still stir primal emotions. I remember well the heartache, but also the unity that followed.

23 years later, our nation is more divided than at any time in my life. Unpacking how we arrived at this moment would take more digital ink than I want to spill.

But suffice to say, I’m left longing for the day when there can be disagreement, without hate, and unity around the core values that built the most prosperous nation in human history.

We should demand more of our candidates, of our political tribes, and of ourselves. Together, we should pursue better angels.