The Anxious Balance

I honestly thought Kamala Harris was going to just wipe the floor with Donald Trump but yesterday's debate was pretty even, as far as I could tell. He was as bad as I expected. He even said two exceptionally stupid things--I mean, stupid even for him. The first was his claim about immigrants eating dogs and cats. When the moderator said that the mayor of the town in question reported no such incidents, Trump's exceptionally lame retort was to say that he heard someone talk about it on TV.

Harris' strongest point was when she went after Trump's naivete when dealing with foreign leaders who could manipulate him with flattery. Even people in Trump's camp may have been clear-eyed enough to squirm a bit. But they're not clear-eyed enough that Harris shouldn't have categorically denied Trump's claim that she supported executing babies (that was the other exceptionally stupid thing he said). I think Trump sometimes says things so outrageously stupid and ugly that his opponent thinks they don't deserve a response, but Harris and others have to consider that they're trying to sway people who think voting for Trump is a reasonable option. So she should absolutely deign to mention, "I will not support the execution of babies." Might as well cover her bases and say she won't support the genocide of Americans or forcing people to eat snakes. Try to ride ahead of the crazy wave.

Harris was also hampered by having to maintain the Left's picture of the January 6th mob as an "insurrection", though thankfully she avoided using that word. Trump recovered from a blunder some weeks ago when he failed to recall the death of Ashli Babbitt, the only true fatal casualty of January 6th, and she was one of his supporters, an unarmed woman, no less.

Despite the strong handshake at the beginning, Harris' biggest flaw may be that she sounded much weaker than Trump, particularly when she took to using a plaintive tone in the second half of the debate when she seemed to be begging viewers to embrace hope and optimism. She came off as pathetic and, sadly, I think that would be enough to sway some voters Trump's way. A lot of people genuinely feel it's better to be stupid than weak.

X Sonnet #1879

Attempts could crowd the longest amber night.
The dummy pool was still a sloppy string.
Decisive faces chose the floppy fight.
A smokey finger picked the magic ring.
In fact, eternal rain on Venus holds.
Revenge was not a dish for boring oats.
Amazing music fell to painted scolds.
To Mars, let's take the nifty flying boats.
The lava path was later black as night.
The sketch of dogs was traded high and fast.
Collapsing rails displaced the local fight.
Some empty words have drenched the puddle past.
With suits and ties, the figures fumble serves.
The av'rage soup is choked with stringy nerves.