Bill Ellis: Kamala Harris clearly won Sept. 10 presidential debate
In a surprising outcome, Vice President Kamala Harris spoke forcefully against her opponent last Tuesday night, Sept. 10. Missing was the typical bullying we have seen in Mr. Trump's previous debate performances. Instead, Harris reported her campaign staff had interviewed military leaders who had worked for the former president who said Trump was "a disgrace."
The ABC moderators fact-checked both debaters, finding many of the Republican's statements were not true. For Mr. Trump, many of his previous statements were pronounced false this second time around. For Vice President Harris, the moderators noted she had backtracked on several positions, mainly her stance on fracking, which changed during her campaigning in Pennsylvania, a fracking state.
Yet, consider Carl Leubsdorf's Sept. 1 commentary published in the Denver Post, which documented that presidential candidates are all "flip-floppers."
Viewers were generally surprised at Vice President Harris's forceful criticism of her opponent's performance as president. She proved her ability to stand up to any bullying put forward by her opponent. Or by the foreign dictators presented as her opponent's character references.
Following the debate, national polls show Harris has overcome leads or has increased her lead on her opponent. Further, there has been continuing criticism by media and political pundits that she needs to provide more detailed information on her economic policies. The vice president has stated her positions on increasing housing by 3 million units and providing assistance to first-time home buyers and to families with new children. She also supports a child tax credit to help alleviate low income poverty.
Kamala Harris continues to support the Affordable Care Act, which has provided health care insurance to 45 million despite her opponent's multiple attempts to abolish the act. And each of his attempts is backed up with the promise of his own plan existing only conceptually.
I have watched presidential elections since Stevenson versus Eisenhower in 1952. But the cooked up falsehood by JD Vance, Mr. Trump's vice presidential candidate, is the worst. Vance's campaign has stated Haitian immigrants are eating pets in Springfield, Ohio. The source of this information lies solely with Vance's campaign office. It is also a signal of inept desperation.
Finally, in my opinion, the vice president proved to be a legitimately qualified candidate for the top job. Assigned to negotiate with Latin American countries to help stem the flow of immigrants across our southern border, she showed the ability to get results at the highest levels of foreign countries.
In a recent PBS interview of Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, it was confirmed legal Haitian immigrants had been good workers in many Springfield businesses for at least three years. He also reported there had been no incidents of those immigrants eating pets as asserted by both Republican candidates.
The governor also confirmed multiple bomb threats have been received from both foreign and domestic sources. Recent onsite visits by PBS reporter William Brangham have verified these statements by the governor.
