Boston: Harris will give Trump all he can handle in debate [ Dallas Morning News ]

For many years, my wife and I attended SMU’s Tate Lecture Series. Among the most anticipated speakers were some of our favorite movie stars — Gregory Peck, Diane Keaton and Jeff Bridges. They were so dynamic and appealing on the big screen. What a treat we thought it would be to see what they were like in person.

Wrong! The esteemed actors proved to be colorless storytellers, and it made me realize that many celebrities build their careers by doing a great job of delivering lines written by someone else, but when it comes time to entertain a crowd with their own content, the emperor sometimes wears no clothes — a sad case of form over substance.

Which brings us to our 2024 presidential nominees. Throughout this year, Donald Trump has stayed in a mode of making personal attacks on his adversaries and raving about himself in his speeches, interviews and tweets. While the repetitive unscripted remarks have endeared him to his base, they have also alienated many undecided voters and ramped up the animosity of the never-Trumpers.

The one time he rose above his self-imposed fray was for his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, a few days after being shot by a would-be assassin. He opened by reading someone else’s inspiring words from a teleprompter that made him appear, at least for a few minutes, to be a candidate with a sincere desire to unify the nation.

Alas, he couldn’t read another’s words long before getting bored, so his speech soon reverted to his standard shtick: strident attacks on Democrats, praise for his (often misrepresented) past presidential record, and guaranteed nirvana for the country if he gets a second term.

Because of Trump’s constant exposure to voters since his political career started in 2016, there’s an overabundance of evidence to support the strong and varied conclusions Americans have of him. James Carville’s recent observation hit the mark: “The public’s opinion of Trump is settled.”
Trump’s first opponent, Joe Biden, was brought down by weak form in his debate performance on June 28, where there was no teleprompter available to elevate him and he struggled and often failed to complete sentences.

Before her Aug. 29 interview with CNN’s Dana Bash, Democratic candidate Kamala Harris’ ability to speak extemporaneously was largely unimpressive. She had proved that she can deliver strong teleprompter-assisted speeches, but she answered only a few questions from a handful of sympathetic reporters, and her responses were viewed by many as “word salad.” Like the actors at the Tate Series, the form of Harris’ spoken content appeared to be satisfactory only as long as she was reading someone else’s words.

Did Americans learn something new about Harris’ political substance from her interview with Bash? In a word, yes.

When Bash asked her tough questions to which there were no good answers, Harris showed she can filibuster with a straight face. For example, Bash asked her about the massive rise in inflation and surge of illegal immigrants during the Biden-Harris administration; Harris’ many public assurances of Biden’s strong mental acuity after his June 28 debate; and why none of her new economic policies were ever pursued by Biden-Harris over the last 3½ years. Harris responded by delivering evasive answers with full confidence, and did it as well as any seasoned political professional. This will surely be a useful skill in Tuesday’s debate.

Harris was cagey enough to borrow a page from President Dwight Eisenhower’s playbook. When the president found himself in a sticky diplomatic situation on the eve of a press conference, where he was not ready to state his position because of still evolving considerations, his advisers warned him that reporters would surely be pressing him to commit to one strategy or another. Ike’s amused response: “Don’t worry. I’ll confuse ‘em.”

When Bash challenged Harris over her recent policy statements being in clear conflict with her prior positions on issues like fracking and border enforcement, she proved she can deliver deftly confusing responses.

“I have never changed my values, but my years as vice president made me believe that it’s important to build consensus and find a common place of understanding where we can actually solve problems.”

She knows how to dodge interrogation bullets by obfuscating — which will be another useful trait in the debate.

The Bash interview demonstrated that this year’s Democratic nominee is a formidable politician with the substance to maintain her form when speaking without a teleprompter. Those expecting Harris to crash and burn in tonight’s debate are likely to be disappointed. Unlike Biden on June 28, she has the capacity to bring her A game to the contest, and Trump had better offer more substance than his standard ramblings if he hopes to hold his own.