Only yesterday, Democrats were crossing their fingers in pre-debate interviews with National Review in hopes that their nominee wouldn't botch one of her only unscripted prime-time events as a candidate this close to Election Day. As Representative Jim McGovern (D., Mass.) put it in dramatic terms a few hours before Vice President Kamala Harris took the stage: "She needs to win. That's the bottom line."
The same Democrats who spent the hours leading up to ABC's 9 p.m. debate glued to their television screens breathed a sigh of relief the moment Harris walked onstage. In their view, she immediately took command of the room by taking the initiative to approach Trump, shake his hand, and introduce herself by name. The next 90 minutes saw a well-prepared, if nervous, Harris take on a rambling, emotional Trump. Harris at times sounded robotic in repeating practiced remarks about her policy plans and attacks against her opponent, while Trump veered off on conspiratorial rants and went viral for answering a question about his plans to replace Obamacare by saying he has "concepts of a plan."
But this race is still a coin flip, and it's far from clear that last night's 90 minutes of sparring will impact the electoral map.
A RealClearPolitics polling average from surveys in seven key battleground states finds a tight race, with Harris and Trump essentially tied. Pressed on why the contest remains so close, Democrats say the race was always going to be tight and point to the massive gains Harris has made as compared with her boss in the weeks since she succeeded him as the nominee.
"Anytime you have an opponent, you're nervous. We know this is going to be a nail biter," Representative Joyce Beatty (D., Ohio) told NR Tuesday afternoon. She pointed to the spread of polling points that Harris has gained "in such a short window," since late July. "The spread in swing states that she's either tied or up by one or two gives us enough hope. But we also realize it's only 50-some days to go before the election. And so that's why we have to get the message out -- we have to get people off to vote. If people vote we win."
Megyn Kelly -> Pete Hegseth responds to 2017 rape accusation. 🔥 vol. 3, issue 13 | December 6, 2024 Quick Hits All the news you need in...
No comments: