YouA televised debate alone does not guarantee victory in a presidential election. But it acts as an intense ferment. The confrontation between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, on September 10 on ABC, was all the more eagerly awaited as the Democratic candidate responded to the challenge of a very short campaign, following Joe Biden’s withdrawal. He has little time to (re)present himself to the general public, establish himself and appear credible. From this point of view, the debate was a resounding success, rich in tasty barbs, punctuated by the vice president’s devastating facial expressions, somewhere between amused contempt and controlled irritation.
But Kamala Harris’s professional preparation and her unexpected ease in the exercise should not obscure the other surprise of this televised event: Donald Trump’s failure. His poor formal performance, but above all his strategic one. The former president lacked discipline and fell into the traps set by his opponent. He failed to take advantage of his main asset, illustrated by the polls: economic issues.
Even if inflation had fallen to 2.5% year-on-year at the end of August, Donald Trump could have focused on the housing crisis and the cost of basic goods, highlighting the spectacular rise in prices over four years. An increase that would be dishonest to attribute exclusively to the Biden administration, but which constitutes a useful argument for the Republican candidate to feed nostalgia for an easier everyday life. His greater familiarity with the golf cart – his favourite sport – than with housework deprives him of sensitivity on this subject.
His worst defects
If he had preferred this angle of attack, Donald Trump could have referred Kamala Harris to the record of the outgoing administration. Instead, he let her appear as a candidate for change, in relation to him, his methods and his incendiary speeches. The billionaire told nonsense about Haitian immigrants in Ohio eating pets. He digressed on the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, defending the indefensible. In short, he reminded the 67 million viewers who he was, at his worst.
But the most striking absence in the Republican candidate’s remarks was the absence of any opening to the attention of the center, abandoned to Democratic strategists. At no point did it occur to the former president to address undecided voters, doubtful of Kamala Harris, as well as moderate conservatives, tense, even hostile, to the idea of supporting him.
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