61 Comments
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Trump has been pretty disciplined so far, but Harris knew bringing up his rallies would absolutely send him into a tailspin

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Trump has been quite disciplined. Harris has been even more disciplined. Stark contrast to Biden in the previous debate.

...so far

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I agree. Harris was smart, strategically, to provoke him on his rallies.

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I thought the same thing. She knew

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"Donald Trump has no plan for you" is a great line

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Surprised we haven't heard that line repeatedly.

"Donald Trump was fired by 81 million people" is another attempt.

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It's on January 6 in which Trump looks least responsible and Harris looks most responsible. It's this contrast that can be powerful with swing voters.

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Just an incredibly methodical debate by Harris tonight

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Agree, very impressed

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The story of the second twenty minutes of this debate is Harris effectively baiting Trump

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No way Trump maintains this level-tone for longer than 15 minutes

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Sep 11Liked by Michael & Melissa Wear

I think this is interesting because his ability to flat line like this but the actual words being the same kind of exaggerated nonsense and fabrications. Very hard to counter calm and confident nonsense-telling.

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Joining you along with a hundred or so college students!

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Sep 11Liked by Michael & Melissa Wear

I am appreciating how these moderators are doing some fact checking in real time

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Wow, she is just absolutely prosecutorial here. Dismantling and dissembling.

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Pro-life groups are breathing a sigh of relief after that answer

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well, until the very end there

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He means Virginia, not West Virginia

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Literally was like, who is he talking about?

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Harris' face says "same old tired playbook"

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Harris has presented as remarkably confident and strong on foreign policy during this campaign.

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SO impressed with his much she's memorized and how strong she is coming out on foreign policy

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Harris presses for the handshake!

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Sep 11Liked by Michael & Melissa Wear

Both of them fear mongering around abortion. Harris for sure presenting more facts and clear answers.

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Sep 11Liked by Michael & Melissa Wear

Really wish they made trump answer for his plan on the economy that the moderator presented - actually gave facts on how his plan would hurt normal Americans and he didn't answer for it

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As a Christian who attempts to really care about the sanctity of life, the way abortion gets discussed makes me want to weep.

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Agree.

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💯

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Sep 11Liked by Michael & Melissa Wear

As someone with an expressive face, I think Harris' expressions on split screen are great but I think it's gonna leave her very exposed for misogynoir-infused reactions to it.

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Sep 11Liked by Michael & Melissa Wear

Fossey's last shot sails over the crossbar and the US has to settle for a disappointing and frustrating draw. Obviously top billing news atm.

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Sep 11Liked by Michael & Melissa Wear

My husband and I are debating (ha!) if we can have it on with our 8 and 6 year old around. Seems like no…

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God bless the children!

-Michael

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Sep 10Liked by Michael & Melissa Wear

Frankly, I do not know what kind of tone Donald Trump is going to strike tonight. I'm so curious to see what his approach to this debate will and maybe more importantly won't be.

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Yessss Trump’s tone is the probably my biggest question mark. -Melissa

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Has Harris said before that she is a gunowner?

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Microphone mute policy is much more lax in practice than expected?

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I know- stop unmuting him!

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"Trump abortion bans"

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A lot of voters believe Trump is an open book. It's part of his appeal. Does Harris contest that and how?

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Interesting to see if Harris contests him right now after Trump mentioned labor

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So interesting that Harris leads with housing in economy answer

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Alright. I'm here. Let's do this!

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Why is fracking the policy Trump highlights in his closing statement?

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Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania

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Fracking was so 2016.

Also, how is it that Trump is like "Fracking on all the acres here. Also, have you seen how many acres of desert those solar plants ruin?"

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How about which issues got the most attention? Did the top issues get the most attention? Did the candidates (or one of them) steer clear of important issues? Did the specific issues that got the most attention favor one candidate or the other?

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Am I correctly gathering that Trump is intentionally and strategically accusing Harris and Biden of each bad thing he's accused of?

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My husband and I were commenting on the same thing... Is he seriously trying to do that?!?

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How did y'all think each handled the topic of Israel and Palestine?

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What did y'all make of the exchange during which Harris was muted and apparently trying to interject and Trump stopped to address her attempt to interrupt? I wasn't in view of the TV as it happened so I may have misunderstood what happened.

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Makes me so angry that he continues to think he has a right to talk to people that way. I wanted Harris to come back and call him out on it but probably wisely just moved on

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Trump is as frustrating as anticipated. And his composure and talking points are fading.... Michael and Melissa, interested to hear how you think he's doing compared to what you expected.

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One thing I found fascinating in the first 25 minutes on Trump's part is that he started his responses like a live fact-checking of Harris (according to his own facts). Muddies the waters more.

Michael said elsewhere in this thread that Trump started off even-keeled like he did in the last debate with Biden. He is absolutely prepped. Now he's raising the volume after Harris went after his rallies. -Melissa

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Is Trump gonna get Harris to tack moderate on abortion as she instinctively reacts "that's not true" to Trump's accusations against Walz?

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yeah, no; not gonna bother coming back to say 9th month abortion is bad and shouldn't be legal

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Do all channels get the same video and audio feed or have an opportunity to do their own production?

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I'm assuming this is on, like, every TV channel. If so, what's a good way to decide which one to watch on?

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Give ABC the respect they deserve as the official host. Or CSPAN

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By what mechanism is there an official host but every other network is welcome to broadcast it live? Considering I spend most of my TV energy on sports, that feels really surprising.

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Typically, the Commission on Presidential Debates, but the debates this year were negotiated directly between the networks and the campaigns

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