Listening to a lie, a boast or a personal attack from a man who is less trained, less intelligent and less sensitive than you are, but who, for some reason that is hard to explain, has power and even devoted supporters. How do you respond to this situation, common to many women and some men? Silence or anger are usually the most common responses, but Kamala Harris showed us at Tuesday’s debate a new way to respond that is subtle, calm and surprisingly effective.
Sometimes he blinked with an intensity that seemed to say “my eyes don’t believe what they’re seeing” (of course, they did that after nearly a decade of Trump’s rants and cronyism). Sometimes he raised his eyebrows, sighed softly, or put his hand on his chin. It was hard to tell that much in a single glance. It was a display of nonverbal language that many of us wish we could master so naturally. And it probably wasn’t natural, but the result of many hours of rehearsal and preparation for a moment that was receiving unusual attention because of the unprecedented nature of this entire election cycle.
