William A. Jacobson (legalinsurrection.com)
"Democrats were “thrilled with her facial expressions, thrilled with how she mocked him visually while he was talking, and that was deliberate. There’s no question that was deliberate—that was part of their plan. I just don’t know how that’s going to play. I don’t think it’s going to play well.”
. . ."Why do Republicans keep going back to their abusers? I think we need a psychological profile, but it’s expected. It’s the norm. This was particularly bad, and it stood in huge contrast to the legitimate job that CNN did back in June for the first debate, but that’s beside the point. We can’t worry about the moderators, though our anger is legitimate—it’s just not enough, because it’s to be expected.
"The other frustration I had was that this was an enormous missed opportunity to show the world, to show tens of millions of people—I don’t know what the final numbers were across all platforms, but clearly in the multiple tens of millions—what a fraud Kamala Harris is. How she’s flip-flopped, how she’s changed her positions, how there’s really nothing to her career.
"And it didn’t come across. The case was not made, and that was extremely frustrating to watch.
"So, it’s not surprising that the snap polling, including by groups that conservatives trust, like Trafalgar, is showing that Harris “won” the debate. And I think that’s true. She was more polished, more prepared; she had her canned barbs. But there’s something strange going on here. While she won the debate, Democrats always come across in snap polling as winning the debates. I saw people sharing on X the history of snap polling after debates with Donald Trump, first with Hillary and then with Biden. In every one of those debates—six in total—clear majorities said that Trump lost the debate. I’m not sure what to read into that.
"So, it was anger at the moderators, frustration that Trump wasn’t making a lot of the points I thought he could have made, but he was being Trump. And I’ve misjudged his appeal to voters and his electoral success so many times, so it is what it is.
"But there’s something else I took away from this—and it’s showing on the screen just to the side of me here. One thing I really noticed throughout was the faces that Harris was making—very condescending, very mocking, very childish, actually. I think that’s the one thing I remember more than anything about the debate." . . .
"I just don’t know how that’s going to play. I don’t think it’s going to play well. I don’t think anybody’s coming out of this feeling warm and fuzzy about Kamala Harris. If her goal was to raise her stature, I don’t think she accomplished that."