No doubt this was a much better debate than the Trump-Biden spectacle we witnessed last week. But that’s damning with faint praise.
For what it’s worth, though, Kamala Harris won. But primarily because Mike Pence never even bothered to answer any of the questions, choosing instead to drone out patently canned talking points.
Of course, Harris should have won; after all, she had all the facts. And everyone watching knew this. Pence had nothing but lies. And everyone watching knew this.
In fact, here is how I presaged four years ago the way he would channel Trump … like a wolf in sheep’s clothing:
Nothing could be more foreboding than the willingness of no less an establishmentarian than Pence sacrificing democratic institutions and political norms at the altar of Trump’s ego. Perhaps you’ve seen him affecting that constipated countenance of sincerity as he mutters Trump-whispering words.
He strains credulity not only because nobody can make sense of the contradictory and often ‘fact-free’ things Trump says (or tweets), but also because Pence clearly knows he’s making no sense when he tries to do so.
(“FBI Repeats: ‘No Reasonable Prosecutor’ Would Charge Hillary Over E-mails,” The iPINIONS Journal, November 7, 2016)
Yet Harris spent much of this debate shaking her head and squinting her eyes. And I fear, for many (white) viewers, she looked at times like that stereotypical angry Black woman.
Even worse, Harris did this in a meaningless attempt to convey righteous indignation at Pence for doing exactly what everyone knew he would do: lie, deny, deflect, and project, project, project. And he did all of that with not only chilling arrogance but mocking condescension to boot.
Finally, that black fly nesting on Pence’s white head might have been a metaphor for how he has helped Trump defile the presidency. But I suspect that, Pence was stinking up the place with so many lies, this fly was just doing what flies do, namely wallow in sh!t.
In any event, as sure as night follows day, Trump will do or say something tomorrow that will relegate tonight’s debate to the dustbin of history.
Related commentaries:
FBI repeats… Trump-Biden debate… Biden-Harris ticket…
* This commentary was original published yesterday, Wednesday, at 11:09 p.m.
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