In the end, Earl and I watched the Harris-Trump show. He stayed for the entire thing, while I left to read the paper. So I probably missed some of the salient moments that the various media focused on this morning.
I decided to Google® what FOX News and MSNBC had to say in their programs immediately after the show, rather than read ramblings of opinionators. Yes, FOX and MSNBC are filled with opinionators, but my thought was that if they were opining immediately after the show, it would be a first impression and not a particularly thought-out rant.
I went to MSNBC first, and Rachel Madow’s crew could hardly contain itself. Lawrence, Joy, Rachel, Nicole, and Chris were giddy with superlatives about Harris’s performance. They couldn’t say enough over-the-top things about how she goaded him, mocked him, and embarrassed him. On top of that, Taylor Swift’s endorsement coming just after the program ended made them believe the election was possibly a done deal.
Then I went to FOX News, where it was a little more somber. The general consensus was that Harris won the night, but that it was unfair to their candidate. Britt and Sean felt ABC journalists were partial; they didn’t fact-check Harris like they did Trump; Harris seemed artificial with her constant smile; her mannerisms were a distraction.
In the end, I’m not sure what the program accomplished. Perhaps it gave thoughtful viewers an idea of Harris’s agenda, or perhaps it gave viewers an idea of Trump’s focus on attacking his opponent. In the end, as far as I’m concerned, they both degenerated to the lowest common denominator in a debate: name calling in one way or another.
There is talk of another confrontation . . . er, debate. I hope it doesn’t happen.
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