Kamala Harris was extremely disappointing tonight. Not only was she a moderate on every issue (a point which progressives will lament) but she had no fight to her game at all.
She let Trump and Pence off the hook repeatedly, allowing Pence to lie and obfuscate without much pushback at all. If this was the first time you were paying attention to the issues you might assume Pence was a competent leader defending a competent President. He certainly seemed more prepared.
Yet, in my opinion, she nailed her responsibility tonight. Her candidate is up 10+ points and leading in every swing state that matters. The only way he can lose is if Harris somehow admitted they would pack the court, or fumbled the ball in some major way (I think they will and should pack the court but that’s another issue).
In debates, sometimes you can win by not arguing your position. Clearly, from abortion, to the environment, to packing the court, she could have made a liberal/progressive argument that is the right side of the argument (to us).
But, that would have been a blunder. All she needs to do is let Trump continue to shoot himself in the face and sit back. She did a perfect job in not blundering tonight and her sub-par performance all but guarantees a Biden presidency.
Thank you Kamala for being mediocre.