In this combination of photos taken in Pennsylvania, Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign event, Aug. 18, 2024, in Rochester, left, and Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event, Aug. 19, 2024, in York. (AP Photo)

Harris and Trump prep for Philadelphia debate

by MARC LEVY
September 9, 2024

HARRISBURG, PA -- When Donald Trump and Kamala Harris meet onstage Tuesday night in Philadelphia, they’ll both know there’s little debate that Pennsylvania is critical to their chances of winning the presidency.

The most populous presidential swing state has sided with the winner of the past two elections, each time by just tens of thousands of votes. Polling this year suggests Pennsylvania will be close once more in November.

A loss in the state will make it difficult to make up the electoral votes elsewhere to win the presidency. Trump and Harris have been frequent visitors in recent days — Harris plans to return on Friday — and the former president was speaking in Butler County on July 14 when he was the target of an assassination attempt.

The stakes may be especially high for Harris: No Democrat has won the White House without Pennsylvania since 1948.

Pennsylvanians broke a string of six Democratic victories in the state when they helped propel Trump to victory in 2016, then backed native son Joe Biden in the 2020 race against Trump.

“They say that ‘If you win Pennsylvania, you’re going to win the whole thing,’” Trump told a crowd in Wilkes-Barre’s Mohegan Arena in August.

Republicans are looking to blunt Trump’s unpopularity in Pennsylvania’s growing and increasingly liberal suburbs by criticizing the Biden administration's handling of the economy. They hope to counter the Democrats’ massive advantage in early voting by encouraging their base to vote by mail.

Harris is looking to reassemble the coalition behind Biden's winning campaign, including college students, Black voters and women animated by protecting abortion rights.

Democrats also say it will be critical for Harris to win big in Philadelphia — the state's largest city, where Black residents are the largest group by race — and its suburbs, while paring Trump's large margins among white voters across wide swaths of rural and small-town Pennsylvania.

The debate is set for the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. The city is a Democratic stronghold where Trump in 2020 notoriously said “ bad things happen,” one of his baseless broadsides suggesting that Democrats could only win Pennsylvania by cheating.

Biden flipped Pennsylvania in 2020 not just by winning big in Philadelphia, but by running up bigger margins in the heavily populated suburbs around Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. He also got a boost in northeastern Pennsylvania in the counties around Scranton, where he grew up.

Ed Rendell, a former two-term Democratic governor who was hugely popular in Philadelphia and its suburbs, says Harris can do better than Biden in the suburbs.

“There’s plenty of votes to get, a Democrat can get a greater margin in those counties,” Rendell said.

Lawrence Tabas, chair of Pennsylvania’s Republican Party, said Trump can make gains there, too. The GOP’s polling and outreach shows that the effect of inflation on the economy is a priority for those suburbanites, he said, and that the issue works in the party's favor.

“A lot of people are really now starting to say, ‘Look, personalities aside, they are what they are, but we really need the American economy to become strong again,’” Tabas said.

Rendell dismisses that claim. He said Trump is veering off script and saying bizarre things that will ensure he gets a smaller share of independents and Republicans in the suburbs than he did in 2020.

“He’s gotten so weird that he’ll lose a lot of votes," Rendell said.

Harris has championed various steps to fight inflation, including capping the cost of prescription drugs, helping families afford child care, lowering the cost of groceries and offering incentives to encourage home ownership.

Pennsylvania’s relatively stagnant economy usually lags the national economy, but its unemployment rate in July was nearly a full percentage point lower. The state's private sector wage growth, however, has slightly lagged behind the nation’s since Biden took office in 2021, according to federal data.

Meanwhile, Democrats are hoping the enthusiasm since Biden withdrew from the race and Harris stepped in will carry through Election Day in November.

For one, they hope she will do better with women and Black voters, as the first female presidential nominee of Black heritage. Rendell said he is more optimistic about Harris' chances to win Pennsylvania than he was with Biden in the race.

"I think we're the favorite now," Rendell said.

The debate takes place before voting starts — in Pennsylvania and everywhere else.

A national Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey conducted in July showed that about 8 in 10 Democrats said they would be satisfied with Harris as the party’s nominee compared with 4 in 10 Democrats in March saying they would be satisfied with Biden as the candidate.

There is some optimism among Pennsylvania Democrats even in Republican-leaning counties, including a number of whiter, less affluent counties near Pittsburgh and Scranton that once voted for Democrats consistently.

In Washington County, just outside Pittsburgh in the heart of the state's natural gas-producing region, Larry Maggi, a Democratic county commissioner, thinks she will outrun Biden there.

Maggi is seeing more lawn signs for Harris than he ever saw for Biden, as well as more volunteers, many of whom are young women concerned about protecting abortion rights.

“I’ve been doing this for 25 years and I’m seeing people I’ve never seen,” Maggi said.

Democrats also hope there is a growing number of voters like Ray Robbins, a retired FBI agent and registered independent, who regrets voting for Trump in 2016. Robbins did so, he said, because he thought a businessperson could break congressional deadlock.

“He’s a liar,” Robbins said. “I think he’s totally devoid of any morals whatsoever. And you can quote me: I think he’s a despicable human being even though I voted for him.”

But Republicans have reason to be optimistic, too.

In the nation's No. 2 gas-producing state, even Democrats acknowledge that Harris' prior support for a fracking ban in her run for the 2020 nomination could prove costly. In this campaign, the vice president said the nation can achieve its clean energy goals without a ban, though Trump insists she will reverse course again.

Meanwhile, the Democratic advantage in the state's voter registration rolls has steadily shrunk since 2008, from 1.2 million to about 350,000 now.

Republicans credit their outreach to younger voters, as well as Black, Asian and Hispanic voters.

“A lot of them tell us it’s the economy," Tabas said. “And in Philly, it's also the crime and safety in the neighborhoods and communities.”

Those gains have yet to translate into GOP wins as Democrats have beaten Republicans by more than 2-to-1 in statewide contests the past decade.

Daniel Hopkins, a political science professor at the University of Pennsylvania, chalks up the narrowing registration gap, in part, to “Reagan Democrats” who have long voted for Republicans, but did not change their registration right away.

One of those voters is Larry Mitko, a longtime Democrat-turned-Republican who lives in a Pittsburgh suburb.

Mitko, 74, voted for Trump in 2016 and Biden in 2020, and was leaning toward voting for Trump in 2024 because of inflation and Biden's handling of the economy before Biden exited the race.

That is when Mitko became sure he would vote for Trump.

“I don’t like the fact of how they lied to us telling us, ‘He’s OK, he’s OK,’ and he can’t walk up the steps, he can’t finish a sentence without forgetting what he’s talking about,” Mitko said of Biden.

Harris’ late entry into the race could mean that many voters are still learning about her, said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, a University of Pennsylvania professor of communication who researches presidential debates.

More voters than usual may not be locked into a decision even as voting looms, Jamieson said, so this debate could make a difference.

© Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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105 Comments
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TaiwanIsNotChina Sep. 9 06:40 am JST
Thank goodness Trump will be muted part of the time.

1 ( +16 / -15 )

Banthu Sep. 9 06:58 am JST
Whatever Harris promises to do... why isn't she doing it now?

-3 ( +20 / -23 )

TaiwanIsNotChina Sep. 9 07:00 am JST
BanthuToday 06:58 am JST

Whatever Harris promises to do... why isn't she doing it now?
Know nothings are in charge of the House. Everyone should know the only real issue is keeping a traitor from returning to the White House.

1 ( +16 / -15 )

plasticmonkey Sep. 9 07:15 am JST
I want to hear Trump talk about locking up those who investigated his attempted coup. And more mispronunciations of Harris’ name and how she’s “not really black”.

Undecided voters like me want to know more about this firebrand outsider who (I’ve heard) will end the Ukraine conflict in a day and bring prices down through massive tariffs!

5 ( +16 / -11 )

dagon Sep. 9 07:24 am JST
When Donald Trump and Kamala Harris meet onstage Tuesday night in Philadelphia, they’ll both know there’s little debate that Pennsylvania is critical to their chances of winning the presidency.
Let's get ready to Rumble!

I see it as Trump's WWE style of debate vs Harris' courtroom, Senate committee.

We will see which prevails.

1 ( +11 / -10 )

NOMINATION Sep. 9 07:25 am JST
I want to hear Trump talk about locking up those who investigated his attempted coup. And more mispronunciations of Harris’ name and how she’s “not really black”.
Exactly, those voting on the left don't care about what Kamala has to say and what policies she has(none of her own). They just want to follow every word Trump says and blow it up in the news.

-10 ( +10 / -20 )

plasticmonkey Sep. 9 07:29 am JST
those voting on the left don't care about what Kamala has to say and what policies she has(none of her own).
Thanks for that info. I’ve heard she’s a far left Marxist who wants to turn America into Venezuela. I may just have to vote for the weird wannabe autocrat. At least he can make strong economy with magic wand.

1 ( +14 / -13 )

plasticmonkey Sep. 9 07:39 am JST
“Look, personalities aside, they are what they are, but we really need the American economy to become strong again,’”
Biden is solely responsible for high prices around the world. Because he’s a Marxist.

Only one man, Trump, has the power to lower prices. Massive tax cuts for the rich and 100% tariffs on Chainaa will do the trick. Probably in a week or two. He have the business record to prove his acumen!

-4 ( +12 / -16 )

Strangerland Sep. 9 07:44 am JST
Whatever Harris promises to do... why isn't she doing it now?
The president makes policy, and the VP supports it.

Someone just had to be taught the basics of the system they weirdly think they're qualified to speak on, while with the exact same comment proved they aren't.

1 ( +13 / -12 )

NOMINATION Sep. 9 07:45 am JST
Thanks for that info.
Now you can give me an in depth analysis of why Kamala is the right one for the job instead of her not being Trump. If you want to go the Trump this and Trump that route, cool!

-8 ( +9 / -17 )

Strangerland Sep. 9 07:48 am JST
Undecided voters like me want to know more about this firebrand outsider who (I’ve heard) will end the Ukraine conflict in a day and bring prices down through massive tariffs!
he keeps talking about how the tariffs are a tax on foreign countries. And MAGA are too stupid to realize that tarrifs are a tax placed on goods that are paid by the American companies that import the goods.

Foreign nations pay zero for American tariffs. The money collected from tariffs are paid by American companies and put into the government coffers.

The Republicans used to claim they hated tax. Their guy is pushing a 20% tax on all imported goods for Americans, right now.

0 ( +11 / -11 )

Strangerland Sep. 9 07:50 am JST
I hope she does a lot of cackling on the podium just to annoy Trump.

It would be enjoyable to watch him go on an old man rant about how there is something wrong with being happy. I'm sure that will resonate with the voters.

3 ( +14 / -11 )

Strangerland Sep. 9 07:53 am JST
Now you can give me an in depth analysis of why Kamala is the right one for the job instead of her not being Trump.

Reproductive rights.

Democracy.

Decency.

Trump is probably the biggest piece of garbage human in the western world right now. That's as good a reason as any.

But how about we get to Kamala having a plan to help struggling families, while Trump wants to put a 20% tax on all goods that they'll have to pay, while he claims "it doesn't cost that much to raise kids relatively" at the same time.

-1 ( +12 / -13 )

John Sep. 9 07:59 am JST
I look forward to Trump incriminating himself on live tv.

7 ( +12 / -5 )

finally rich Sep. 9 08:02 am JST
Whatever Harris promises to do... why isn't she doing it now?
"I will fix this!"

"I will make it better"

"I promise you I will take you out of this"

oh wait....

Good lord, things will be very tough for one side.

Good luck for both.

Last time it only took 1 debate, they're dropping like flies.

-7 ( +5 / -12 )

DaDude Sep. 9 08:03 am JST
I look forward to hearing about Kamala's border policy and how successful she has been.

-12 ( +5 / -17 )

WoodyLee Sep. 9 08:05 am JST
Harris will only say "Bring It On, All Or Nothing " Trump will be prosecuted like no others.

9 ( +11 / -2 )

Strangerland Sep. 9 08:08 am JST
I'm looking forward to Harris prosecuting the felon in public!

4 ( +11 / -7 )

finally rich Sep. 9 08:09 am JST
I understand how you can get alienated from the Western state of affairs while living in Japan.

But I wouldn't have the guts to cast my vote to make people suffer and struggle back home, my own family. Imagine someone actually doing that.

-15 ( +1 / -16 )

dagon Sep. 9 08:12 am JST
But I wouldn't have the guts to cast my vote to make people suffer and struggle back home, my own family. Imagine someone actually doing that.
If you are an American expat casting your vote for Trump, that's you.

Consigning our brothers and sisters in America to a cultist, corporatist kleptocracy if you vote for Trump.

10 ( +14 / -4 )

Strangerland Sep. 9 08:13 am JST
But I wouldn't have the guts to cast my vote to make people suffer and struggle back home, my own family. Imagine someone actually doing that.
I think the people who want to go home to a democracy, rather than an autocracy, will probably vote for Harris regardless of your British concerns.

9 ( +14 / -5 )

Bob Fosse Sep. 9 08:15 am JST
I wonder how 45 will tackle Harris and Biden’s achievements.

Most importantly, they’ve made our country very safe, and internationally, they’ve made it even more safe.

6 ( +9 / -3 )

Desert Tortoise Sep. 9 08:17 am JST
he keeps talking about how the tariffs are a tax on foreign countries. And MAGA are too stupid to realize that tarrifs are a tax placed on goods that are paid by the American companies that import the goods.
Tariffs are not only a tax but they create a deadweight loss to the economy as a whole. Think about it. At a given price, x number of customers will buy a product. If you raise the price, fewer customers can afford to buy it or they buy less. Either way, raising prices reduces the number sold. When a government imposes a tariff, prices rise. The steepness or flatness of the supply and demand curves will determine how much price rises relative to the amount of the tariff. The rise in price reduces units sold. Some customers on the margin are priced out altogether. The reduction in units sold represents a deadweight loss to the economy, split between losses experienced by consumers (higher costs mean they can afford less) and sellers (higher prices mean they sell less and make less revenue). The amount of revenue the government collects is a fraction of the total tariff. There is literally no upside to tariffs.

Possibly the only argument that can be made for a tariff on a foreign product is to counter any subsidies that foreign government uses to promote the production of that good, but one has to be careful in designing such tariffs so they don't do more harm than good. It is not a simple, slap 20% on everything imported. That is just stupidity.

13 ( +14 / -1 )

Strangerland Sep. 9 08:22 am JST
It is not a simple, slap 20% on everything imported. That is just stupidity.
And the idiots praise him for being an intelligent businessman.

He only appears intelligent to the morons, and that's due to perspective. To an ant, a doorstop is a mountain.

9 ( +14 / -5 )

Desert Tortoise Sep. 9 08:22 am JST
After Pootie-poo "endorsed" Ms Harris I so wish she had shown the 2016 video of him pulling up the shirt of a young boy in a Moscow crowd and kissing him on the stomach (go find it, it's on Youtube) telling him "I put lots of sick little pedos just like you in jail, it's what I do" and just leave it at that.

7 ( +9 / -2 )

itsonlyrocknroll Sep. 9 08:25 am JST
If, yes, a big if, ABC, Tuesday, Sept. 10, at 9 p.m. EDT, delivers a promised impartial broadcast Trump Harris global debate, in Kamala Harris case to date the only opportunity, possibly the final chance the US electorate will be able to come close to fully realise the risk ideologically extremist Kamal Harris truly represents.

Quote "World News Tonight" anchor and managing editor David Muir and ABC News Live "Prime" anchor Linsey Davis will serve as moderators.

Donald Trump must refrain from any temptation to bark personal insults, this debate is undoubtably a consequential moment in 2024, i contend US election history.

Trump must focus on the Biden Harris appalling incompetent record in high office, the economy, immigration, law and order, a country divided through the pursuit of toxic gender identity politics

Permeated though schools, race baiting critical race theory, an open wound for US society to publicly politically self harm. the antisemitism openly encouraged in US colleges and universities.

The facetious giggling Harris performance on the world stage, that squirming embarrassing idiocy present at the solemn remembrance of fallen US heroes that stormed the beaches in Normandy France.

I suspect ABC will attempt to shield Kamala from close political security on direct “follow ups”.

Harris-Trump ABC News presidential debate: How to watch, what to know

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/harris-trump-abc-news-presidential-debate-watch/story?id=113387977

4 years of Harris Biden is more than enough, 4 years of Harris Walz could well embolden the dictatorships of China/Russia/Iran/North Korea that US people/electorate have finally truly taken leave of there senses.

-14 ( +4 / -18 )

Desert Tortoise Sep. 9 08:31 am JST
Harris: Give me those policy books on defense, trade, and economics...
Well I would wager that Ms. Harris team is concentrating as much on how to deal with the kind of over the top lies and exaggerations one must expect from Jupiter, the orange colored gas giant. In all likelihood he is going to let loose with a stream of outright lies and fabrications in a volume so great that it would be impossible to get one's own message across if one tried to refute Jupiter line by line. That has been Jupiter's debate technique since the 2016 election. They have to have a tactic for addressing this effectively and imagine they are rehearsing that as much as getting their policy positions down.

12 ( +13 / -1 )

bass4funk Sep. 9 08:32 am JST
Thank goodness Trump will be muted part of the time
Thank goodness Kamala can’t take notes, sit down, have Walz or Donna Brazile by her side.

-13 ( +5 / -18 )

bass4funk Sep. 9 08:34 am JST
I suspect ABC will attempt to shield Kamala from close political security on direct “follow ups”.
Rest assured, that will happen.

4 years of Harris Biden is more than enough, 4 years of Harris Walz could well embolden the dictatorships of China/Russia/Iran/North Korea that US people/electorate have finally truly taken leave of there senses.
And that’s just the beginning…

-13 ( +4 / -17 )

DaDude Sep. 9 08:45 am JST
If you are an American expat casting your vote for Trump, that's you.

Consigning our brothers and sisters in America to a cultist,
He talked about his family struggles back home. That would have been your cue to tell him why Kamala is the better candidate for him and what her policies are. Why would he rush out to vote for her if you automatically dismiss him and his family as "cultists" for giving his opinion?

-12 ( +1 / -13 )

bass4funk Sep. 9 08:46 am JST
Someone can't resist making predictions, even then they are consistently wrong...guess they enjoy humiliation...
Not usually, more like the other way around

"An indictment filed Wednesday alleges a media company linked to six conservative influencers — including well-known personalities Tim Pool, Dave Rubin and Benny Johnson — was secretly funded by Russian state media employees to churn out English-language videos that were “often consistent” with the Kremlin’s “interest in amplifying U.S. domestic divisions"
Ohh, that debunked story again, and the left continue to fall for it. Lol

https://x.com/catturd2/status/1832081627289154003?s=46&t=YGWP_lcRZjddiWlx4QxURQ

-12 ( +2 / -14 )

Strangerland Sep. 9 08:51 am JST
Thank goodness Kamala can’t take notes, sit down, have Walz or Donna Brazile by her side.
This is what you get with no notes. Trump's economic policy:

“Well, I would do that, and we’re sitting down — you know, I was, somebody, we had Sen. Marco Rubio, and my daughter Ivanka was so impactful on that issue,” Trump’s 368-word answer began. “It’s a very important issue. But I think when you talk about the kind of numbers that I’m talking about, that — because, look, child care is child care. It’s, couldn’t, you know, there’s something, you have to have it — in this country, you have to have it.

“But when you talk about those numbers compared to the kind of numbers that I’m talking about, by taxing foreign nations at levels that they’re not used to — but they’ll get used to it very quickly — and it’s not gonna stop them from doing business with us. But they’ll have a very substantial tax when they send product into our country.

“Those numbers are so much bigger than any numbers that we’re talking about, including child care, that it’s going to take care. We’re gonna have — I look forward to having no deficits within a fairly short period of time, coupled with the reductions that I told you about on waste and fraud and all of the other things that are going on in our country, because I have to stay with child care.

“I want to stay with child care, but those numbers are small relative to the kind of economic numbers that I’m talking about, including growth, but growth also headed up by what the plan is that I just, that I just told you about. We’re gonna be taking in trillions of dollars, and as much as child care is talked about as being expensive, it’s, relatively speaking, not very expensive compared to the kind of numbers we’ll be taking in. We’re going to make this into an incredible country that can afford to take care of its people, and then we’ll worry about the rest of the world.

“Let’s help other people, but we’re going to take care of our country first. This is about America first. It’s about Make America Great Again. We have to do it because right now we’re a failing nation, so we’ll take care of it. Thank you. Very good question. Thank you.”
More word salad in that "policy" than Biden has made in his life.

10 ( +14 / -4 )

TaiwanIsNotChina Sep. 9 08:57 am JST
itsonlyrocknrollToday 08:25 am JST

4 years of Harris Biden is more than enough, 4 years of Harris Walz could well embolden the dictatorships of China/Russia/Iran/North Korea that US people/electorate have finally truly taken leave of there senses.
We know everything we need to know about who is beholden to Russia from Helsinki.

7 ( +9 / -2 )

TaiwanIsNotChina Sep. 9 09:00 am JST
bass4funkToday 08:43 am JST.

Massive tax cuts for the rich and 100%

And middle class
Tax cuts don't make things more affordable when everyone is getting them. And they won't even be getting that much after Musk gets his share.

tariffs on Chainaa will do the trick. Probably in a week or two. He have the business record to prove his acumen!

Yes, at least someone to threaten China and get their attention. They don’t react when Biden says something, they kind of ignore him, but Trump always seems to get China’s attention like no one else. Hmmmm
The only reason China sits up for Trump is because they start wondering what they can actually get their foreign asset to do for them.

9 ( +11 / -2 )

Strangerland Sep. 9 09:01 am JST
Massive tax cuts for the rich and 100%

And middle class
Trump's official economic policy is a 20% tax American importers will have to pay on all the goods they import. A tax that will be passed on to the consumer..

So no, no tax cuts for the middle class.

9 ( +11 / -2 )

Strangerland Sep. 9 09:03 am JST
Just sayin'.

9 ( +11 / -2 )

Strangerland Sep. 9 09:04 am JST
Yes, the site that allows all political viewpoints to be heard and not just voice the concerns of the liberal one-sided echo chamber
Says the fox news watcher! ($750 billion they've paid for their lies, and counting!)

9 ( +12 / -3 )

bass4funk Sep. 9 09:04 am JST
Tax cuts don't make things more affordable when everyone is getting them.
Seem to be doing well in Texas and Florida overall.

And they won't even be getting that much after Musk gets his share.
But a lot still

https://www.texastribune.org/2023/07/24/texas-abbott-property-tax-cut/

The only reason China sits up for Trump is because they start wondering what they can actually get their foreign asset to do for them.
Seriously, you need a better argument, they used to be interesting now they’re just all over the place, come on now…

-11 ( +3 / -14 )

TaiwanIsNotChina Sep. 9 09:07 am JST
bass4funkToday 09:04 am JST

The only reason China sits up for Trump is because they start wondering what they can actually get their foreign asset to do for them.

Seriously, you need a better argument, they used to be interesting now they’re just all over the place, come on now…
It keeps appearing because it is true. Helsinki proves it to anybody with a brain.

8 ( +10 / -2 )

Strangerland Sep. 9 09:09 am JST
Just sayin'..

8 ( +10 / -2 )

itsonlyrocknroll Sep. 9 09:16 am JST
A Pee-wee Harris presidency, sorry, one cannot fail to notice the resemblance, could inadvertently trigger a globally catastrophic calamitous cataclysmic moment due to the propensity to dither, hesitate lacking confidence, strength of character.

US enemies will not fail to take full advantage of a Harris presidency.

This debate Trump must expose The Harris political flaws, the irritating inherent imperfections idiosyncrasies the incumbent cumbersome traits, that manifest in failure to overcome conflict and find resolution.

On a world stage the prospects conclusions are truly terrifyingly prominent obvious.

As little as 8 weeks ago, Obama, Clinton, Nancy Pelosi senior democrats found it unthinkable to endorse a Kamal Harris presidency.

Are you not being hoodwinked?

Taken for a gullible horde of the political unquestioning easily led?

Think about that.

This debate will/could provide an opportunity to taste the coffee wake up.

One last thought .....

Vice President Kamala Harris defends President Biden’s debate performance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMBmrW6LzV0&t=81s

Listen to Harris own words, knowingly falsely, in the knowledge that Joe Biden was suffering from extremes of cognitive decline.

-14 ( +1 / -15 )

Ricky Kaminski13 Sep. 9 09:19 am JST
Hearing mobs spew their visceral hatred for the T man is always a good sign that the game is still very wide open.

Let’s see of Harris can actually do battle as well as they claim ( and hope really, really hard ) she can. Her chronic lack of interviews I imagine won’t help. It’s like fighting for a title with no sparring and like any fight, everyone has a game plan until they get punched in the nose!

May the best candidate prevail. Real simple from here. Can’t wait, history in the making.

-8 ( +4 / -12 )

Strangerland Sep. 9 09:21 am JST
May the best candidate prevail.
She will!

Real simple from here. Can’t wait, history in the making.
I am very excited myself.

10 ( +13 / -3 )

Strangerland Sep. 9 09:21 am JST
US enemies will not fail to take full advantage of a Harris presidency.
Fear! Doom! you must vote for Trump because fear! And doom! And very very bad! Ick!

9 ( +13 / -4 )

Bob Fosse Sep. 9 09:23 am JST
Hearing mobs spew their visceral hatred for the T man is always a good sign that the game is still very wide open.
I posted praise for Biden and Harris, keep positive.

8 ( +10 / -2 )

bass4funk Sep. 9 09:27 am JST
I posted praise for Biden and Harris, keep positive.
I the same for Trump and Vance, that’s mad vibin, that’s a positive thing, support!

-13 ( +3 / -16 )

ArtistAtLarge Sep. 9 09:32 am JST
The former persecutor vs the 34 count convicted felon and insurrectionist.

This is going to be very entertaining.

9 ( +10 / -1 )

ArtistAtLarge Sep. 9 09:33 am JST
"Prosecutor". Dang autocorrect.

10 ( +10 / -0 )

Bob Fosse Sep. 9 09:37 am JST
They’ve made the US safer both domestically and internationally. Even 45 agrees.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

itsonlyrocknroll Sep. 9 09:37 am JST
Strangerland

Doom gloom despondency?

Haven't both campaigns succumbed to the trusted blanket of good old fashioned fire breathing fear mongering?

For many I listen to, both Trump and Harris truly astonish, as the USA top two nominees for President 2024, for the next four years. out of 345,426,571 million obviously one must discount minors maniacs and marauders.

Will this ABC debate provide answers to some telling unanswered questions?

I guess we will have to all wait and see?

Won't we?

-12 ( +1 / -13 )

VoiceOfReason Sep. 9 09:38 am JST
The disadvantage to Kamala for having muted mics is that she wont get to accuse Trump of mansplaining everything like she did when she debated Mike Pence.

-7 ( +3 / -10 )

VoiceOfReason Sep. 9 09:39 am JST
Says the fox news watcher! ($750 billion they've paid for their lies, and counting!)

I guess I should go to MSNBC for all my news but then I wouldn't learn anything other than that I should feel ashamed for being white.

-11 ( +2 / -13 )

Underworld Sep. 9 09:41 am JST
itsonlyrocknroll

Strangerland

Doom gloom despondency?

Haven't both campaigns succumbed to the trusted blanket of good old fashioned fire breathing fear mongering?
No. Only the Trump campaign is fear mongering.

The Harris/Walz ticket just lets voters know the danger of voting for Trump and what that means to the average person.

However, mostly their message is one of hope.

10 ( +12 / -2 )

itsonlyrocknroll Sep. 9 10:01 am JST
Underworld,.........back to 2019

Doom and gloom triggering, race batting, Harris

I suggest an insight to tomorrow's Kamal Harris debate possible bottom line strategy.

Donald Trump is the "devil" white supremacist, the ‘greatest national security threat’, how that for fear mongering!

WATCH: Harris says Trump is the ‘greatest national security threat’ | 2019 Democratic Debates

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vG1Tnuvo78

-14 ( +1 / -15 )

Underworld Sep. 9 10:03 am JST
Itsonlyrocknroll

Underworld,.........back to 2019
Try to stay relevant - a lot has happened since 2019. Harris/Walz is not about fear.

7 ( +9 / -2 )

Strangerland Sep. 9 10:06 am JST
Donald Trump is the "devil" white supremacist, the ‘greatest national security threat’, how that for fear mongering!
Yes, this is correct.

Are they not supposed to point out the facts?

Meanwhile, Team Doom and Gloom and Evil Cat Ladies Will Cause Another Great Depression And World War Three Through Eighteen is complaining about all the joy and laughter coming from the left, and ignoring the policy being put forward by Harris, while ignoring that Trump's policy is only serving to expose his mental decline:

“Well, I would do that, and we’re sitting down — you know, I was, somebody, we had Sen. Marco Rubio, and my daughter Ivanka was so impactful on that issue,” Trump’s 368-word answer began. “It’s a very important issue. But I think when you talk about the kind of numbers that I’m talking about, that — because, look, child care is child care. It’s, couldn’t, you know, there’s something, you have to have it — in this country, you have to have it.

“But when you talk about those numbers compared to the kind of numbers that I’m talking about, by taxing foreign nations at levels that they’re not used to — but they’ll get used to it very quickly — and it’s not gonna stop them from doing business with us. But they’ll have a very substantial tax when they send product into our country.

“Those numbers are so much bigger than any numbers that we’re talking about, including child care, that it’s going to take care. We’re gonna have — I look forward to having no deficits within a fairly short period of time, coupled with the reductions that I told you about on waste and fraud and all of the other things that are going on in our country, because I have to stay with child care.

“I want to stay with child care, but those numbers are small relative to the kind of economic numbers that I’m talking about, including growth, but growth also headed up by what the plan is that I just, that I just told you about. We’re gonna be taking in trillions of dollars, and as much as child care is talked about as being expensive, it’s, relatively speaking, not very expensive compared to the kind of numbers we’ll be taking in. We’re going to make this into an incredible country that can afford to take care of its people, and then we’ll worry about the rest of the world.

“Let’s help other people, but we’re going to take care of our country first. This is about America first. It’s about Make America Great Again. We have to do it because right now we’re a failing nation, so we’ll take care of it. Thank you. Very good question. Thank you.”
9 ( +12 / -3 )

John Sep. 9 10:17 am JST
Any rules regarding Trump hawking products on tv during the debate?

Cause I feel like that’s the kind of low-rent goober thing he’d do.

9 ( +10 / -1 )

bass4funk Sep. 9 10:23 am JST
Donald Trump is the "devil" white supremacist, the ‘greatest national security threat’, how that for fear mongering!
That will be it, Trump will let her ramble on and then talk about her record which then Kamala will repeat the same rant and pivot to J6 and who won the 2022 election and then Trump will talk about the border, law enforcement, the out of control crime, the craziness of Venezuelan gangs grouping and taking over Denver and Kamala will say, Fweedum. Wash, rinse, and repeat.

-9 ( +2 / -11 )

wallace Sep. 9 10:25 am JST
Trump will do his usual, lie and lie and then exaggerate his claims and achievements.

10 ( +11 / -1 )

itsonlyrocknroll Sep. 9 10:26 am JST
Back to reality 2024 the only Harries/Walz CNN love fest interview

Harris/Walz word salad unintelligible gibberish.

Not the faintest explanation on how the US tax payers will pay for any of the promises, to where, or who is going to foot the bill for Harris/Walz crazy wish list.

The US hard working voters know they have paid for the Biden Harris reckless policies administration the failure respond promptly coherently to wars in Ukraine, Israel/Gaza.

All just a taste into the future Harris/Walz horror show yet to unfold

Harris defends her record, slams Trump in first TV interview with Tim Walz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRFXB0Yawok

-12 ( +1 / -13 )

Strangerland Sep. 9 10:29 am JST
Not the faintest explanation on how the US tax payers will pay for any of the promises, to where, or who is going to foot the bill for Harris/Walz crazy wish list.
Vote Harris vote DOOOOOOOOOM! Right? Amirightorwhatbruh?

6 ( +8 / -2 )

Desert Tortoise Sep. 9 10:31 am JST
Well, I would do that, and we’re sitting down — you know, I was, somebody, we had Sen. Marco Rubio, and my daughter Ivanka was so impactful on that issue,”
Everyone is missing the import of that one sentence. Marco Rubio proposed a family leave act that would be funded out of the leave taker's accumulated Social Security money. What that would do in the long term is reduce lifetime Social Security earnings by delaying when a worker could begin taking their Social Security retirement. It would take at least twice the length of the leave in terms of extra work months to make up what was lost taking family leave. Basically you have to accept less in retirement to afford family leave. This is how the conservative mind thinks, all so the wealthy can have their taxes cut while fooling themselves thinking they are somehow "pro family". They aren't. They are just jealously guarding their wealth.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/column-know-trump-really-talking-171312836.html

8 ( +8 / -0 )

Bad Haircut Sep. 9 10:35 am JST
The small businesses had to start because the employment and inflation has been so bad that people couldn't get jobs, so they either had to start their businesses as a side hustle to make ends meet, or try to make a living. It's be interesting to know how many of them are surviving in this economic climate.

-11 ( +0 / -11 )

bass4funk Sep. 9 10:35 am JST
Trump will do his usual, lie and lie and then exaggerate his claims and achievements.
Not really, he will go on from his record of 4 years as President and then pivot to Harris and ask her what were her accomplishments and then that is where things will get quiet....deathly quiet

-10 ( +3 / -13 )

Chico3 Sep. 9 10:35 am JST
Harris has got this one. She'll get him good while exposing him to the public. Go Harris! When faced with lies, you expose and pound on the truth! Pound on the facts!

8 ( +9 / -1 )

Bad Haircut Sep. 9 10:36 am JST
More small businesses started during the Biden/Harris administration than in any presidency in the history of America. The candidate who is pushing for the first $50,000 of small business income not be taxable, a tax break (oh dear, policy sorry to throw you guys a hard one).
Easy to do if they're not making a profit anyway.

-9 ( +0 / -9 )

itsonlyrocknroll Sep. 9 10:38 am JST
Every point I have made today, discounting my own humble opinion, is Harris in her own words.

Not embellished with fakery or political inuendo.

-9 ( +1 / -10 )

Strangerland Sep. 9 10:38 am JST
Not really, he will go on from his record of 4 years as President and then pivot to Harris and ask her what were her accomplishments
More jobs than any admistration ever. Didn't ban abortion. More small business start ups than ever. Less border crossings than Trump. The economy was a disaster at the end of Trump's term, and they recovered it.

You guys are going to be mighty shocked, having never ventured outside Fox News to hear the truth.

7 ( +9 / -2 )

Strangerland Sep. 9 10:39 am JST
Easy to do if they're not making a profit anyway.
So should all the tax breaks go to the rich so they can trickle down? Trump round two?

7 ( +7 / -0 )

wallace Sep. 9 10:40 am JST
bass4funk

Trump will do his usual, lie and lie and then exaggerate his claims and achievements.

Not really, he will go on from his record of 4 years as President and then pivot to Harris and ask her what were her accomplishments and then that is where things will get quiet....deathly quiet
Harris has been the VP, not the president for the last four years.

7 ( +8 / -1 )

wallace Sep. 9 10:46 am JST
At his rallies, it takes Trump 60 minutes just for his opening. Bored people have already started to leave.

6 ( +8 / -2 )

Bob Fosse Sep. 9 10:48 am JST
It's only the wannabes who go on and on about how smart they think they are.
45 does that all the time.

7 ( +8 / -1 )

lincolnman Sep. 9 10:55 am JST
Trump will do his usual, lie and lie and then exaggerate his claims and achievements.

Not really, he will go on from his record of 4 years as President and then pivot to Harris and ask her what were her accomplishments and then that is where things will get quiet....deathly quiet
Not as quiet as when Trump is asked;

Does life begin at conception or will you protect a women's reproductive rights?

Are EVs hoaxes or fantastic?

Is RFK Jr the world biggest Leftist Lunatic or someone you like and respect?

Did Egypt make a $10 million illegal donation to your 2016 campaign and was it a bribe?

Did you direct your aides to re-hide documents required to be returned under subpoena and then direct them to destroy the security tapes showing that movement?

7 ( +9 / -2 )

plasticmonkey Sep. 9 10:55 am JST
ask her what were her accomplishments and then that is where things will get quiet....deathly quiet
And then after your prediction doesn’t come true, you’ll claim you never made it.

10 ( +10 / -0 )

itsonlyrocknroll Sep. 9 10:56 am JST
When Harris/Walz are free to speak in public is mainly reading off a teleprompter, reciting and script

Tomorrow hopefully, no autocue, no notes, no minders, no safety net.

-9 ( +3 / -12 )

bass4funk Sep. 9 10:58 am JST
More jobs than any admistration ever.
Not according to the last abysmal jobs readjusted report

https://x.com/OANN/status/1826398263865737667

More small business start ups than ever.
Ahh, I see...

https://x.com/gatewaypundit/status/1654565320915402753

https://www.echolive.ie/corknews/arid-41346257.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Less border crossings than Trump.
https://x.com/GOPLosAngeles/status/1824604013175898202

The economy was a disaster at the end of Trump's term, and they recovered it.
https://nypost.com/2024/09/01/opinion/harris-biden-inner-circle-have-almost-no-business-experience-no-wonder-americans-are-hurting/

No wonder they the public trusts Trump more on the economy.

You guys are going to be mighty shocked,
We already are that the left thinks that people are THAT stupid that they can't see through the Dems botched record.

having never ventured outside Fox News to hear the truth.
Has nothing to do with FNC.

-11 ( +2 / -13 )

Cephus Sep. 9 11:06 am JST
"Harris and Trump prep for Philadelphia debate."

I hate to disappoint you all, but these debates are useless as they come. Only one thing matters, the final result in Nov 5th. Otherwise shenanigans will result in chaos you have never ever seen or encountered before in U.S history.

-12 ( +2 / -14 )

itsonlyrocknroll Sep. 9 11:15 am JST
Cephus

I see your point, this debate though, could well be the first and only occasion to gain a insight into both nominees alone on a platform without assistance, or knowledge of the proposed questions

-11 ( +1 / -12 )

Desert Tortoise Sep. 9 11:16 am JST
This is what MAGA is turning into. The more scared they get, the crazier they get.
Eh, the crazies have been out there all along. I can remember decades ago neighbors cleaning their guns in the garage or sitting around at a motorcycle shop talking about in hushed tones with a touch of anticipation about (shhhh, lower your voice for this) "the coming race war". One neighbor in the National Guard used to like to tell me the military had "plans" for this, all while working on his guns and feeding rats to his Rosy Boas. The freaks have been out there forever. The difference is that Jupiter and MAGA and social media have made their bigotry and their crazy conspiracies socially acceptable.

10 ( +10 / -0 )

bass4funk Sep. 9 11:21 am JST
What is so funny about this statement is that he kept saying that Hillary should be locked up, and yet during his four years in office he never released the hounds on her like his opponents have done to him. Let that sink in.
This is very true and very important because you don't go after your political appointments, I didn't like it when the GOP went after Clinton, thought that was just as bad. Hillary got her punishment already, that's enough, but the left on the other hand want to go after and jail any and all political opponents and that is a very scary.

-11 ( +2 / -13 )

itsonlyrocknroll Sep. 9 11:26 am JST
I have always been a believer that American stand above, a true example of democratic greatness, US American way of life really doesn't no need billboard and hats to drill home that fact.

Neither is a wise in an election to hide behind autocues, to refuse interview, press conferences, to defend your party manifesto, to refuse to be subject to challenge scrutiny,

This is why for me tomorrow, the Harris/Trump debate so appropriate, never been so crucial.

-9 ( +3 / -12 )

Strangerland Sep. 9 11:29 am JST
I also am wondering if Harris will be able to sway my vote on Tuesday.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Jimizo Sep. 9 11:29 am JST
Trump has been very erratic recently. He’s been reasonably lucid by his standards at times but at others has looked tired, slurs, and sometimes falls into incomprehensible gibberish.

Will be interesting to see what kind of state he is in at this debate.

8 ( +10 / -2 )

wallace Sep. 9 11:31 am JST
Trump is too old and too unfit to be president.

7 ( +11 / -4 )

MotMotMot Sep. 9 11:36 am JST
I'll watch the super cut video from Jon Stewart. My bet is Harris winds him up and he has a couple unhinged outbursts. Maybe he'll call her Biden again.

Trump has a gift of word rhyme, but if you put actual words down on paper it reads like a dementia patient. It's a bunch of gibberish.

10 ( +12 / -2 )

bass4funk Sep. 9 11:36 am JST
Trump has been very erratic recently. He’s been reasonably lucid by his standards at times but at others has looked tired, slurs, and sometimes falls into incomprehensible gibberish.
Not sure what you are watching, doesn't seem to be remotely close to that, odd...

Will be interesting to see what kind of state he is in at this debate.
Yeah, I will be praying for the woman.

-11 ( +4 / -15 )

Jimizo Sep. 9 11:38 am JST
Trump is too old and too unfit to be president
I’ve seen him looking absolutely exhausted recently. The energy he had in 2016 has long gone.

To be fair to him, he had more energy in his early 70s than most.

Looking shattered now. Understandable.

7 ( +11 / -4 )

itsonlyrocknroll Sep. 9 11:38 am JST
I suspect the Harris/Trump debate will decide who will be the 2024 President.

-8 ( +1 / -9 )

plasticmonkey Sep. 9 11:39 am JST
the left on the other hand want to go after and jail any and all political opponents
Why haven’t they done this to Jim Jordan, MTG, JD Vance, McConnell, Mike Johnson, Ted Cruz, etc?

Also, why weren’t past elections rigged against these people, but only against Trump?

7 ( +8 / -1 )

John Sep. 9 11:41 am JST
Trump is too old and too unfit to be president

I’ve seen him looking absolutely exhausted recently. The energy he had in 2016 has long gone.
Slouching in his chair, soft voice and the rate of (unintelligible) speech is way down.

And he looks really old and worn even though his campaign schedule could be characterized as “light”.

7 ( +9 / -2 )

Jimizo Sep. 9 11:42 am JST
I suspect the Harris/Trump debate will decide who will be the 2024 President
Not necessarily.

I remember Obama had an absolute nightmare in one of the debates with Romney but went on to thrash him in the election.

By the way, what’s this ‘Kamal’ Harris thing?

Strange.

11 ( +13 / -2 )

bass4funk Sep. 9 11:42 am JST
I’ve seen him looking absolutely exhausted recently. The energy he had in 2016 has long gone.
No, still there, still there, and even more defiant than ever actually.

To be fair to him, he had more energy in his early 70s than most.
And still does going into his 80s astonishingly

Looking shattered now. Understandable.
No, but Harris will be after tomorrow.

-15 ( +2 / -17 )

Jimizo Sep. 9 11:45 am JST
Slouching in his chair, soft voice and the rate of (unintelligible) speech is way down
He’s looking and sounding frail.

He can still muster up the old foghorn bombast at times but it’s very patchy now.

Sometimes the old engine just won’t cough into life.

Age.

9 ( +11 / -2 )

ClippetyClop Sep. 9 11:53 am JST
Sometimes the old engine just won’t cough into life.
Hardly surprising. He's been trying to sell the Trump Book of Fear for almost a decade now. He looks as bored of it as everyone else is.

He's only in it because it will keep him out of jail, and he can make a fortune rinsing his gullible followers / selling more stolen documents to Xi & Putin.

9 ( +10 / -1 )

bass4funk Sep. 9 11:53 am JST
Why haven’t they done this to Jim Jordan, MTG, JD Vance, McConnell, Mike Johnson, Ted Cruz, etc?
They did and still trying and so far they lost, all of them. Soros and Chucky and his Marxist minions are desperately trying to unseat Cruz as we speak, but so far, it's not working.

Also, why weren’t past elections rigged against these people, but only against Trump?
Because Trump is the ultimate anti-Washington establishment candidate, this is why so many millions are backing the guy.

-12 ( +1 / -13 )

Cephus Sep. 9 11:55 am JST
"I see your point, this debate though, could well be the first and only occasion to gain a insight into both nominees alone on a platform without assistance, or knowledge of the proposed questions."@itsonlyrocknroll

They are useless because the demographic which watches them are usually die hard political followers and their minds are already set on their given candidate. Therefore, to them a debate is not something they look forward learning the candidate new policies because they already know. Thus debates are like sports between two rival teams.

-8 ( +2 / -10 )

itsonlyrocknroll Sep. 9 11:55 am JST
Jimizo,

Kamala Harris, typo

Not rude intentionally, apologises.

Obama is a skilled orator, calm, humble in every respect.

Obama is also a ruthless under hand schemer political operator,

For Biden an "grinning" pat on the back smiling assassin.

I sense the Harris/Trump debate to be so important, due to US electorate expectation, the drama of the Trump assassination attempts.

Harris hide and seek campaign. would it not be disingenuous to refuse to acknowledge the fact

-10 ( +3 / -13 )

Ken Sep. 9 12:01 pm JST
People tunnel vision a lot and think they have a basic understanding of politics, What Harris can do now isn't as much as what she can do as a president because vice is not the same thing as being president. And Biden can't easily do everything he intends to do because of how much push back their is and how hard it is to get people to agree on everything. Where as Trump would just threaten to fire everybody rather than work towards a compromise. And it is too much of a headache trying to understand why a grown man doesn't understand that there are processes and procedures but he believes in fabricating lies over and over again to brainwash his cult into doing his dirty work and send out threats

8 ( +9 / -1 )

MotMotMot Sep. 9 12:03 pm JST
I sense the Harris/Trump debate to be so important, due to US electorate expectation, the drama of the Trump assassination attempts.
The assassination attempt had one new cycle and just disappeared. Once the gunman was identified as a registered republican with mental health issues the media moved on. Biden dropping out and the vartious Harris campaign moves quickly filled the void.

8 ( +10 / -2 )

wallace Sep. 9 12:03 pm JST
Biden beat Trump in a historical election victory. Trump will never have another chance to beat Biden. The history books have been written.

11 ( +13 / -2 )

itsonlyrocknroll Sep. 9 12:06 pm JST
I am of the opinion there have been three world leaders, that have stamped an indelible mark, influenced modern political thinking, history.

Tony Blair, Barak Obama, Bill Clinton.

-8 ( +2 / -10 )

plasticmonkey Sep. 9 12:07 pm JST
the left on the other hand want to go after and jail any and all political opponents

--Why haven’t they done this to Jim Jordan, MTG, JD Vance, McConnell, Mike Johnson, Ted Cruz, etc?

They did and still trying and so far they lost, all of them. Soros and Chucky and his Marxist minions are desperately trying to unseat Cruz as we speak, but so far, it's not working.
You claimed the left was trying to jail all political opponents. Running a candidate against Cruz is not trying to jail him. Or did you forget what you were arguing?

--Also, why weren’t past elections rigged against these people, but only against Trump?

Because Trump is the ultimate anti-Washington establishment candidate, this is why so many millions are backing the guy.
You mean all that supposed ballot stuffing and other supposed shenanigans only affected Trump, and not other Republicans on the same ballot?

6 ( +8 / -2 )

Gene Hennigh Sep. 9 12:07 pm JST
This flies in the face of current US values, but it's time to grow up. Watch the debate. Here's the best way to do it. Don't start watching to see who trips up first. Start watching to hear what the candidates say. Weigh what they say as objectively as possible. Don't assume from the start that one or the other is bad. Actually listen to the arguments. Think about them. Then, and only then, decide how you think they went. I know most of you have already decided who won. Try decided AFTER the debate for once. You might learn something. Hey, you

might not, but you will have conducted yourself like an adult for the first time in. . .how long has it been now?

6 ( +7 / -1 )

Ken Sep. 9 12:08 pm JST
It will be interesting to see Trump convince his people he is towards and against abortion at the exact same time and I wonder if he will try to start another cultural death match all while convincing different race groups that Maga are their BBFs.

11 ( +11 / -0 )

itsonlyrocknroll Sep. 9 12:11 pm JST
Haha ClippetyClop, actually of course, I am referring to Barak Obama, I don't buy that sleepy Joe thing.

-11 ( +1 / -12 )