Yeah, Pence is absolutely lying and making up stuff, but Harris isn’t going after him enough. And the moderator absolutely needs to tell Pence to STFU.
Joy Reid made a great point: Mike Pence was supposed to be helping Trump with women, yet all he did was that condescending male thing where he talks over and interrupts a woman every time she tries to speak.
And yes, Susan Page needed to be a lot more commanding.
I don’t know what to think about who won the debate.
To me, the goal was to impress any on-the-fence voters who might be left. From that angle, I felt Harris came off weaker than I expected. I know she wanted to avoid the both-talking-at-the-same-time problem that marked Trump’s debate with Biden, but by just sitting there quietly as Pence violated the rules over and over again, she looked like a woman who’d allow a man to walk all over her. That may not be who she really is, but that’s how it looked to me last night. She also spent at least as much time giving stock talking point responses as she did answering the actual question or rebutting the many lies that came out of Pence’s mouth.
My wife and the pundits at MSNBC thought that Harris came out of the debate much more impressive than Pence did, but they’re homers for the Democratic Party. I am too, but I’m trying to judge the debate objectively, and while to me it wasn’t a disaster, at best I think it was a draw. Pence got away with a lot of crap last night. And some people will believe it.
Guys (and gals), the old double standard applies here: Come across as a confident, commanding, articulate, assertive, knowledgeable, experienced - and tough - woman - especially if you are a woman of colour, - and see the insults and epithets fly, the least offensive which would have been "strident", or "shrill", "unfeeling" (as opposed to "emotional"), "ball-breaker", and subtlest and nastiest of all - because you cannot train, rehearse or prepare for it, and because it is so subtle, sneaky, subjective, and utterly unfair, for white men are not penalised for being "unlikeable" - namely, "unlikeable".
Therefore, Harris's task in the TV debate was to signal cool, calm, competent, confidence, and that she is collected and calm and unflappable under pressure; remember that the racists detest above all people of colour who are cool and calm in temperament (as Barack Obama was, - I remain convinced that this was one reason the racists really hated him - for, as with women dismissed as "emotional" - and therefore, unfit for the responsibility of professional life or high office, the trope of the "angry black" person, male or above all, female, would be seized upon with fulsome glee as something to be used against them).
Thus, her task was to calmly and coolly state her case, to stay collected and in control, and not to make mistakes - not even slips of the tongue - that could be seized upon that might offer the GOP and its lunatic enablers in the media and elsewhere something that would stick that they could attack the Biden campaign with. Her task was not to lose; to leave the GOP and their foul facilitators with nothing they could use subsequently as an attack point.
I have no doubt whatsoever that the decision not to be more assertive and forceful (and public opinion just loves to take apart assertive women, especially assertive women who are also people of colour) was deliberate and had been taken in advance after much consideration, discussion, debate, preparation and thought.
Anyone who knows her, knows the she is not weak.
However - and we saw this with Michelle Obama, who, granted, was not an office holder (though I would have loved to have seen her as such, she rocks) - strong and competent and ferociously intelligent and exceptionally qualified women, especially women of colour, receive a lot of abuse simply for showing that strength and ability.
Nevertheless, what is of far greater concern to me is that Mr Pence did not give an undertaking - he refused to give an undertaking - that he would respect the results of the election and support a peaceful transition (if the election results suggested a GOP defeat).
