Who won? Now, that’s a question…

This one was so much better than the Trump/Biden debate; Harris didn’t mumble at warp speed, she was articulate, clear, and present, everything that her boss wasn’t. And unlike her boss, she was much more articulate than her opponent (not that this is particularly difficult) and seemed more able to stay on-point, and did a fair job coming across as someone who wanted to be “President for everyone” (although we know that’s not the case).

Trump was, well, Trump. Some bald-faced lies, particularly on the subject of abortion (which the moderators fact-checked on the spot, although they did not fact-check her “We’re not taking anybody’s guns away” lie). He got angry on a couple of occasions, and kept returning to his key talking points (immigration and the economy) regardless of the question he was answering.

I did like how he answered the race question – he said he doesn’t care what she claims to be (she happens to be bi-racial; her mother is of Indian extraction, her father Jamaican – big whoop, but it seems to me that she celebrated her Indian heritage more than her black heritage until it benefited her politically).

I agree with some of the analysis I’ve heard – not enough policy discussion, not enough information about how they (she in particular) stand on issues. There was a lot of back-and-forth, and a lot of material you can find in quantity in any cow pasture – but that’s current politics. Lots of fluff, lots of (fertilizer), not a lot of substance. And I agree that the moderators were clearly pro-Harris.

I’m not a huge fan of the economic policies of this administration; they’re awfully quick to throw money at a problem, real or perceived, and seem to think that corporate taxes are actually paid by corporations and not their customers (aka “you and me”). They take far too much credit for the bounce-back from the Covid years, and seriously downplay their role in the inflation that’s plagued us for the last few years. But Trump also takes too much credit for the “booming economy” during his term, an economy that the Covid crisis caused to tank (although much of that tanking was due to the Democrat-controlled Congress shoving money into CEO’s offices to shore up employment).

(In the interest of full disclosure, I’ll let you know that I probably benefited from that program, as the company I was working for at the time did receive some of that money, and I believe it did help prevent layoffs; but as with any “trickle-down” economic program they seem so fond of, it was rife with fraud and abuse. Fortunately, my employer was honest people, and the money went where it was supposed to go.)

Anyway, as I said, there wasn’t a tremendous amount of substance, and it pretty much boiled down to an articulately-presented promise of throwing money at the electorate to buy votes, and a slightly rattled and angry orange octogenarian (almost) who managed to refrain from using the word “bigly” to describe aspects of his prior term in office. For the most part both played to their bases, but neither presented any really substantive plans or policy (beyond giving away money).

You know I intensely dislike both of these people and what they represent. I know some will disagree, but due to the fact she stayed on-point for the most part, stayed calm and articulate, and was about as clear as you can expect from a politician – and had a bit of help from the moderators – I’m giving the edge to Harris on this one.

Not that I want to see either of these people in the Oval Office.