John Smyth wrote:
> 'If Kamala Won the Debate, Why Is Trump Gaining Ground?'
>
> <https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4264425/posts>
>
> <https://hotair.com/generalissimo/2024/09/12/if-kamala-won-the-debate-why-is-trump-gaining-ground-n3794390>
>
> 'I watched every minute of the debate. The video package I had available
> for Wednesday morning's Hugh Hewitt Show and my Duane's World podcast
> included over 50 video clips. My original conclusion was that nobody won
> the debate. Trump wasn't at his best, Kamala Harris was an A.I. cyborg
> reciting memorized answers to issue sets, not specific questions. And
> David Muir and Linsey Davis, Kamala's sorority sister, set a standard
> for bias in a debate moderator that will never be equaled. I'm not sure
> it's physically possible to be more partisan and one-sided than what we
> saw Tuesday night in Philadelphia.
>
> Donald Trump was effective at redirecting the conversation repeatedly
> throughout the debate on the border crisis, and all of the manifest
> problems we've seen over the last four years, whether it be on jobs,
> crime, drugs, national security concerns, education, or strains on the
> health care system. But there were at least a dozen opportunities for
> the former President to put this race away for good. He had multiple
> chances to do what Ronald Reagan did to Walter Mondale in 1984 - use a
> meme from his opponent he knew was coming and turn it around, erasing
> any doubt as to who is going to win the election. Trump didn't do that.
> I'll give you just two examples of a rhetorical checkmate Trump left on
> the board.
>
> Kamala Harris launched into her 'Trump is the worst ever' routine at one
> point, making the case that the events of January 6th constituted the
> biggest threat to democracy since the Civil War. On 9/10, she said that.
> In real time, my eyes bugged out. I was ready to pounce. I certainly
> expected Donald Trump to pounce. At least, he could do a little seizing.
> He could very easily have said, "Tomorrow, I will be in New York at
> Ground Zero, and at Shanksville, Pennsylvania, to remember the nearly
> 3,000 Americans that lost their lives in a terror attack on U.S. soil
> that attempted to decapitate the government. The plane that crashed into
> the fields of Shanksville was inbound to Washington, D.C. Its primary
> target was the White House. Its secondary target was the U.S. Capitol.
> Thanks to the first combatants in the War on Terror, American patriots
> on board bull rushed the cockpit and ended that threat, even if it meant
> sacrificing their own lives." And you're telling the American people
> that J6 was worse? Really?
>
> Another layup was when Harris claimed that there are no U.S. troops
> currently serving in a combat zone. We have troops at al-Assad in Iraq
> that constantly comes under attack. We just lost 7 servicemembers to an
> ISIS attack on August 31st. U.S. troops are stationed in a combat zone
> in Syria. There are hot spots all around the world where we have troops
> deployed. This was an easy way for Trump to show Harris as clueless,
> unmoored from reality, and recklessly stupid on the commander-in-chief
> question.
>
> South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, a staunch ally of the former
> President and surrogate in the Spin Room Tuesday night, thought Trump's
> performance was disastrous. 'Damage control' was the phrase thrown
> around conservative media circles for the first 24 hours afterwards. But
> a funny thing happened. For a debate that Donald Trump seemingly lost,
> there seems to be movement in his direction since the debate.
>
> David Chalian, one of CNN's political analysts, brought up comparable
> polling from before and after the debate on the subject of the economy.
> The specific question is 'who would be better on the economy.' Trump
> enjoyed a comfortable lead going into the debate, and afterwards,
> increased his lead on the issue.
>
>
>
> Nate Silver, who is one of the nation's preeminent pollsters, and who is
> a Democrat openly supporting Kamala Harris, has been under withering,
> relentless attacks from the far left because his forecasting has
> increasingly shown Donald Trump with at least a 60-40 or better chance
> of winning the Electoral College in November. Here's his first forecast,
> post-debate.
>
>
> #Latest @NateSilver538 Forecast (9/10)
>
> ?? Trump: 61.3%
> ?? Harris: 38.4%
>
> Electoral Votes
> ?? Trump: 278 ??
> ?? Harris: 260
> ——
> Swing States: chance of winning
>
> Pennsylvania - ?? Trump 63-37%
> Michigan - ?? Trump 52-48%
> Wisconsin - ?? Trump 52-48%
> Arizona - ?? Trump 77-23%
> North Carolina - ?? Trump 66-34%
>
> Georgia - ?? Trump 69-31%
>
> Nevada - ?? Trump 62-38%
>
> ??? 55 Days to the election —— @Polymarket odds ?? Trump: 52% ?? Harris:
> 46%
>
>
>
> pic.twitter.com/h5Q4I1PXhp— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) September
> 10, 2024
>
> Of course, swing state polls coming out over the course of the next week
> or two will reveal whether or not either candidate truly received a bump
> out of the debate or not, but here's a scenario as to why Kamala Harris
> not only did not win the debate, but possibly lost the election after
> Tuesday night.
>
> Of all the issue sets that American voters claim is the most important
> to them, the top three, certainly three out of the top five, include
> what Hugh Hewitt has referred to as the three I's - Inflation,
> Immigration, and Israel. Inflation, and the economic condition Americans
> currently face, is by far and away the most important issue according to
> poll respondents. Immigration has taken up residence in the number two
> spot, and the Israel-Hamas-Hezbollah-Iran proxy war is right up there as
> the focal point for foreign policy concerns. All three subjects were
> broached in the debate, and Kamala Harris whiffed on all three. Even
> Jake Tapper on CNN Wednesday afternoon noted that on all of the big
> three issues, Harris didn't offer anything of substance.
>
> <span class="fr-mk" style="display: none;">&nbsp;</span>
>
> Why does this matter? Since Kamala Harris took up the mantle for the
> Democrats as their nominee, she has given exactly one policy speech to
> promote price controls and housing subsidies. She has subsequently
> augmented that through a campaign press release that rent controls would
> be thrown into the mix. She offered nothing of value to uncommitted
> swing state voters in her convention acceptance speech, and her one
> interview with CNN's Dana Bash was substance-free as well.
>
> Trump voters are locked in. They're not moving. They're not fading.
> Major Garrett of CBS found that out visiting a restaurant this week in
> Michigan.
>
>
> Major Garrett: "How will you feel if Trump doesn't win?"
>
> Michigan voter: "Petrified." pic.twitter.com/cV3szvVpzR— Trump War Room
> (@TrumpWarRoom) September 11, 2024
>
>
>
>
>
> Major Garrett: "I talked to 20 voters. Not one of them was undecided...
> Support for President Trump is real and resilient. I encountered that
> everywhere I went." pic.twitter.com/0dFVgNNstd— Trump War Room
> (@TrumpWarRoom) September 11, 2024
>
>
>
>
>
> She voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 — but is voting for President
> Trump now pic.twitter.com/xK3cvZlxqf— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom)
> September 11, 2024
>
> Harris voters, which really are represented by an amalgam of Not Trump
> voters (Democrats and Never Trump Republicans), are not moving. So for
> the vast majority of the electorate, the race is static and the debate
> didn't move the needle one bit.
>
> The real question is the undecided voters in swing states. Nobody truly
> knows how many there are, but they're going to decide this thing. What
> did they think? They're like a jury. They've been sitting in the box
> listening to the evidence presented them thus far. They've heard Donald
> Trump's case, multiple times, in fact. Trump has held dozens of
> televised rallies. He's appeared on dozens of radio and television
> programs. He's granted dozens of interviews on podcasts. His economic
> vision for the country is well-known. He was president for four years.
> His case has been presented to uncommitted swing voters. What they were
> interested in seeing was what Kamala Harris will do as president. Now
> that the debate is in the rearview mirror, they're still wondering.
>
> After being asked what she says to people who believe they were better
> off four years ago under Trump, Kamala offered a precisely-timed
> two-minute diatribe that included the word 'plan' 5 times. She tossed in
> random dollar amounts - $6,000, $50,000, $5 trillion, $4,000. She said
> 'plan' a bunch, included figures to make it sound economic-y, and rested
> her case. The voters that are going to decide the election in a couple
> months all looked at each other and realized she's not going to present
> anything concrete about what she's going to do, and so we're going for
> Trump because economically speaking, he was pretty good. Ed wrote about
> the Reuters focus group of undecided voters who after the debate saw a
> majority breaking for Trump.
>
>
> Reuters interviewed 10 people who were still unsure how they were going
> to vote in the Nov. 5 election before they watched the debate. Six said
> afterward they would now either vote for Trump or were leaning toward
> backing him. Three said they would now back Harris and one was still
> unsure how he would vote.
> CNN's focus group after the debate had similar comments from an
> undecided voter.
>
>
> After tonight's Presidential debate, CNN held a focus group with
> undecided voters.
>
> CNN: "What did you see that brought you to a conclusion?"
>
> UNDECIDED VOTER: "When facts come to facts, my life was better when
> Trump was in office."
>
> Americans can see through the 3 vs 1 charade pic.twitter.com/lW5Nnhn3mA—
> Neanderthal Jack ?? (@RealHesiod) September 11, 2024
>
> Fox News had their focus group partitioned by political affiliation -
> red for Republican, blue for Democrat, yellow for independents, the
> swing voters here. They all had the dials in their hands to respond when
> they heard something they liked. When Trump talked about the three I's,
> look at what happens to the yellow line.
>
>
> ??The dust settles and Dems' gaslighting sputters w another example of
> Independents in focus group lining up w Trump during debate on
> immigration, economy, fracking, abortion
>
>
>
> https://t.co/saKo5UsHJ5— Tammy Bruce (@HeyTammyBruce) September 11, 2024
>
> Even CBS' focus group in Pennsylvania didn't hear anything satisfactory
> out of Harris, and heard Trump reinforce what they remembered for the
> most part as a good economy four years ago.
>
>
> Kamala Camp in panic mode as the debate focus groups of undecideds and
> independents broke for Trump across all networks! The American People
> are too smart to believe VP Harris or ABC's moderators blatant lies!
> pic.twitter.com/EkUd63DWmD— Tex-Mex Trumpian (@TexicanTrumpian)
> September 11, 2024
>
> Will there be a second presidential debate? It all depends on the
> polling next week. If Trump collapses in the polls, he's going to want
> to do anything debate, and Harris will probably not go anywhere near
> harm's way. If Trump gets a bump, Harris is probably going to try to
> dare him into another debate with a friendly network with friendly
> moderators that aren't quite as ham-handed as Muir and Davis were on
> ABC. Trump will insist on Fox News as the debate hosts and moderators.
> There's no way Harris will go along with that, and so my prediction is
> you probably won't see another debate, other than the Vance-Walz
> showdown on October 1st.
>
> Taking very seriously the counsel of my friend, Scott Rasmussen,
> cautioning me a couple days ago on X against expressing exuberance, I
> remain cautiously optimistic that Trump will pull this out on Election
> Day. It shouldn't be close, but it probably will. The mind reels at what
> the result could have been with even a smidgeon of debate prep. Imagine
> the House and Senate seats that could have been piled up in the
> Republican camp if the election were a blowout instead of a squeaker.
>
> If Trump's numbers do go up, can it still be said that Kamala won the
> debate? Maybe politicos like me are missing what the swing voters, the
> intended audience of the debate, saw and heard. If they're breaking in
> larger numbers for Trump, he may have won the debate after all. Winning
> ugly, as Mick Jagger sang, but winning nonetheless.
>
post again in five minutes and it will go the other way