Erick-Woods Erickson
Let’s be honest, last night’s debate was a disaster. Donald Trump seemed aloof, defensive, underprepared, and easily distracted. He jumped into every trap that was set for him by Harris and the moderators while blatantly missing countless opportunities to sell his economic message and tie Kamala Harris to the failings of this White House.
Some people woke up this morning claiming the debate felt like it was 3 against 1 with both moderators working against Trump. Technically, it was 4 against 1 because the same people who fictionalized stories of cat-eating Haitians tricked the former President into repeating their lie on stage.
While Donald Trump had a bad debate against blatantly biased moderators, does it really matter? In 2016, Donald Trump handily lost every single debate against Hillary Clinton according to snap polling but went on to win the general election.
If this is going to be a vibes election, Donald Trump will lose. But if the Trump campaign can make this race about policy, there is a significant portion of undecided Americans who tuned in last night to hear policy specifics from Kamala Harris and learned nothing. Last night was bad, but this race is far from over.
