Georgia partisans saw what they wanted to see in Tuesday night’s debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
But at least one independent observer thinks the debate may not change the dynamics of a race that surveys show is incredibly close — with Georgia and a handful of other swing states likely to play an outsized role in the outcome.
Republican U.S. Reps. Buddy Carter and Rich McCormick hailed Trump’s performance, saying the debate presented the American people “two different visions for our nation.”
“Former President Trump — the clear winner of tonight’s debate — laid out a plan to return to the success we had under his administration, when inflation was low, our nation was energy-independent, we had respect on the world stage, and our border was secure,” Carter told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“Kamala Harris has spent the past hour trying to convince the American people that high inflation, broken borders and unsafe streets aren’t her fault, but we know the truth,” McCormick said. “She’s been at the helm for 3 1/2 years and will radicalize and advance Joe Biden’s failed agenda if elected president.”
DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond and state Rep. David Wilkerson, both Democrats, saw it differently.
“Vice President Kamala Harris clearly came into this debate ready for Trump,” Thurmond said. “She refused to take the bait when Trump resorted to personal attacks which allowed her to project strength, command of the issues and poise. Trump began to unravel very early on, speaking in circles and lies when pressed on any relevant issue.”
“I am trying to digest what Trump is saying. This is scary,” Wilkerson said. “He believes that his key to winning is having Republican legislatures make him president.”
The debate offered Harris a chance to reintroduce herself to a public that wants to know more about her policy agenda. It gave Trump a chance to show he could focus on issues important to swing voters instead of his personal grievances.
University of Georgia political scientist Audrey Haynes said Harris focused on a few issues: economic opportunity for the middle class, protecting reproductive rights and Trump’s shortcomings. Haynes said Harris “was a good communicator and made the points she wanted to make.”
“I did not see any major mistakes from Harris,” she said. “She did bait him, but did so in a way that seemed rational, fact-based and often used his own words and actions.”
Haynes said Trump probably didn’t do himself any favors with his talk of election conspiracy theories, his comments about how “strong men” said he was a great leader and his accusations that Harris “wants to fund transgender operations on illegal aliens in prison.”
“This is not going to bring in new voters to his coalition,” Haynes said. “I would think he doesn’t get a bump of any kind from this debate performance, and Harris could potentially get a very small one.”
But Haynes believes the most likely outcome is that “the race will continue as one that is very close with external factors and the campaigns’ mobilization making the most impact.”
Staff writers Greg Bluestein and Tia Mitchell contributed to this article.
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