Vice President Harris thought she won the debate. But she’s been hit with a reality check.
As the Harris campaign has been delivered wild post-debate news out of a key swing state.
The Harris allies proclaimed that Kamala Harris was the resounding victor of the first debate against Donald Trump held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and moderated by ABC. The Donald Trump allies criticized the moderators who only ever fact checked Donald Trump in real time, and never once did the same to Kamala Harris.
That hasn’t stopped the Kamala Harris allies from gloating about this “victory.” But is it much of a victory? Well the early signs indicate it may not be. In fact, it’s possible Donald Trump did more to convince undecided voters than Kamala Harris did during the Tuesday debate.
The reason for this is that while Democrats are happy that Donald Trump was going off on tangents as they wanted him to, he also landed messaging that may have made undecided voters consider him the better candidate over Kamala Harris. That’s specifically due to the two main issues that Kamala Harris is extremely weak on: the economy and immigration.
Several undecided voters are leaning towards Trump after Tuesday’s debate, according to recent reports. Reuters interviewed 10 undecided voters, with six indicating a preference for Trump and three for Harris. Those favoring Trump cited economic concerns, while four of the six felt Harris failed to differentiate her policies from President Biden’s.
The Undecided Voter Reactions To The Debate
Robert Wheeler, a Nevada security firm executive, expressed disappointment with Harris’s debate performance: “I felt like the whole debate was Kamala Harris telling me why not to vote for Donald Trump instead of why she’s the right candidate.”
Mark Kadish, a Florida entrepreneur, echoed this sentiment: “I still don’t know what she is for. There was no real meat and bones for her plans.”
Despite a CNN flash poll showing 63% of debate watchers who believed Harris won, some undecided voters remained unimpressed with her policy explanations.
#BREAKING: Reuters reports undecided voters SWING FOR TRUMP post-debate
Out of their 10-member panel – SIX say Trump, THREE say Harris and ONE remained unsure. 60-40 Trump. pic.twitter.com/dlufwiyEub
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) September 11, 2024
The Unexpected Shifting Perspectives Of Some Voters
Keilah Miller, a Milwaukee resident and former Democratic voter, found Trump’s pitch more convincing: “Trump’s pitch was a little more convincing than hers. I guess I’m leaning more on his facts than her vision.”
Miller also reflected on her personal experience: “When Trump was in office — not going to lie — I was living way better. I’ve never been so down as in the past four years. It’s been so hard for me.”
Harris currently leads Trump by a narrow margin of 1.1% in the RealClearPolling average. This is an extremely small margin that is far behind the lead that Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden had over Donald Trump in their close races against Trump.
Karoline Leavitt, Trump campaign national press secretary, criticized Harris’s debate performance: “Kamala Harris couldn’t answer the most important question facing undecided voters in this election: are you better off under VP Kamala or were you better off under President Trump?”
As the election approaches, it remains to be seen how these shifting perspectives among undecided voters will impact the final outcome. Will further debates cement the undecided voters? At this time, it definitely seems like the election is up in the air.
Ultimately, if the Democrats think that the debate was a nail in the coffin of Donald Trump’s political career, they’re fooling themselves according to the early reports that show that plenty of undecided voters connected with his messaging during the debate.
It’s also worthy of note that in 2016, surveys proclaimed Hillary Clinton to be the victor of all three debates she had against Donald Trump, but we know that Trump ultimately won that upset election in stunning fashion.
Stay tuned to the DC Daily Journal.
