Trump was his worst self on the debate, whereas Harris cleared a low bar

I’ve this humorous feeling that, earlier than the election is over, character will conquer coverage, at the least for these voters who had been nonetheless undecided earlier than watching Tuesday’s debate.

Sure, inflation nonetheless issues. Voters nonetheless care about unlawful immigration and crime. However in addition they care about how they really feel a few candidate — whether or not or not they just like the candidate.

Donald Trump got here off as indignant, unfocused and unprepared on the debate. Persona wasn’t his robust go well with. It not often is.

His MAGA base likes him. Virtually no person else does.

Kamala Harris stated issues that aren’t true. She deflected questions with the intention to pivot to rehearsed speaking factors. However, as a headline over a New York Occasions op-ed put it, “Trump regarded furious. Harris regarded amused. It was no contest.”

I’m unsure if Harris beat Trump or Trump misplaced all by himself. It doesn’t matter. Somehow, she received and he misplaced, regardless of what he thinks.

Voters who supported Trump earlier than the controversy, I’m assured, nonetheless assist him at the moment. Identical with Harris’s supporters. However for individuals who had been nonetheless attempting to make up their minds, the important thing query was: Might they see her within the Oval Workplace? And the reply after 90 minutes on dwell TV, I feel, is sure.

There have been no phrase salads, no mumbling and stumbling. Trump set a low bar for her and he or she made it simply excessive. She got here off as competent, whether or not or not you agreed with what she was saying.

From an editorial within the Wall Avenue Journal: “She received the controversy as a result of she got here in with a technique to taunt and goad Mr. Trump into diving down rabbit holes of grievance and self-importance that left her insurance policies and historical past largely untouched.”

What was not untouched was Trump’s assertion that in Ohio, immigrants had been consuming different individuals’s pets. “They’re consuming the canine. The folks that got here in — they’re consuming the cats. They’re consuming the pets of the folks that dwell there.” How does he know? Somebody stated so on social media.

Harris didn’t trouble responding with one thing like, “Donald, individuals will suppose you’re loopy should you maintain speaking like that.” But it surely’s what I assumed sitting at dwelling watching on TV. And I’ll wager I wasn’t the one one.

Trump has a nasty behavior of trying by the rearview mirror and considering he’s trying straight forward. So he went again to his favourite oldies about how the final election was stolen, about how the rioters on Jan. 6 had been handled badly and about how some 60 courts dominated towards him in 2020 on a “technicality.”

The person can not utter a declarative sentence so simple as, “I misplaced.” It’s as if he’s afraid of what would occur to every thing he believes about himself if he simply admits the apparent. However I’ll depart the query of what’s happening inside Trump’s head to individuals who examine character problems.

Within the meantime, right here’s a query to think about: Does any undecided voter who goes looking for meals for the household care about any of Trump’s grievances? I don’t suppose so. 

With all her faults — and he or she has various — Harris at the least ready for the controversy. Trump didn’t. He by no means does. Such is his confidence in himself. If he prepares, it means he doesn’t already know every thing he must know. Extra fodder for individuals who examine character problems.

However ultimately there are just a few lingering questions that matter. One is, will Trump’s dismal efficiency harm him on Election Day? It is exhausting to say as a result of, by now, nearly everyone is aware of how Trump behaves in public. I’m unsure something he stated or did will matter sufficient to sway the election.

Right here’s the identical query with a special emphasis: Can Kamala Harris — who not that way back was held in low regard and regarded a political legal responsibility — really beat Donald Trump? After the controversy, I consider the reply is a transparent sure.

In nearly each ballot, Trump beats Harris on virtually each main problem voters say they care about. That issues, however provided that coverage counts greater than character. This time round — as in 2020, when he misplaced — I’m betting that character wins out. Trump’s character. And that implies that when all of the votes are counted (at any time when that seems to be), 2024 could look rather a lot like 2020.

The one factor we could be certain of is that if Trump loses, we’ll hear all about how the election was rigged. That’s yet one more for the parents who examine character problems.

Bernard Goldberg is an Emmy and an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia College award-winning author and journalist. He’s the writer of 5 books and publishes unique weekly columns, audio commentaries and Q&As on his Substack page. Observe him @BernardGoldberg.