Since the last Presidential debate in June the landscape of the 2024 Presidential race has changed beyond what anyone anticipated.

With Joe Biden’s sudden exit from the Presidential race, and subsequent nomination of current VP Kamala Harris, she along with her running mate Tim Walz, has been scrambling to jump start her campaign in the final months of the race. A big stop on this journey was the Sept. 10 debate with former President and Republican nominee Donald Trump.

Trump took the stage seeking to disassemble beliefs that he is too old to competently run the country. Both nominees had a lot to lose, and the debate painted a clear picture of the current state of American politics.

Winner: Kamala Harris
Democratic elect Kamala Harris seemed to prove that Donald Trump’s smash-mouth style of debating was quickly losing steam on Sept. 10, when she correctly predicted that he would attack the character of both her and the Democratic party with arrogant and largely falsified insults.

“You’re gonna hear from the same old tired playbook,” Harris said regarding Trump’s debating strategy, “the same old lies, insults and name calling.”

Additionally she pushed her middle class upbringing and appealed to the people of America throughout, something that Donald Trump has failed to do, electing instead to degrade Kamala and boast about his accomplishments as President.

“Donald Trump has no plan for you,” Harris said, “because he is more interested in defending himself than defending you.”

She would later double down on her previous claims, encouraging the American people to move on from Donald Trump’s extremist political strategy.

”It is important that we move forward,” Harris continued, “that we turn the page on this same old tired rhetoric and address the needs of the American people.”

Additionally, she seemed to beat Trump at his own game. The debate quickly devolved into personal attacks rather than expression of plans or political opinions, but Harris didn’t lose a step. In fact, she exposed the power hungry insecurity in Trump on a national stage.

When the debate shifted towards the topic of foreign endorsement, Trump claimed he was endorsed by some of the strongest leaders in the world.

“They want you in office,” said Harris, “because they can manipulate you with flattery and favors.”

She would close out the debate exposing Trump’s insecurity and power lust as exactly what it is; a threat to America.

“You adore strong men instead of caring about Democracy.” Harris would say.

Overall, the debate was a resounding success in improving Harris’ character in the eyes of the American public, and revealing Donald Trump’s incompetence.

Loser: Donald Trump
Trump, throughout the debate, made accusations and claims of such a false, ridiculous nature that it almost became comedic. Additionally, he latched on to the border crisis and abortion fear-mongering nearly the entire hour and a half, which made it clear that in the way of actual politics as an alternative to extremist, racially charged and hateful pursuits of power, that Trump doesn’t have a leg left to stand on.

“In Springfield,” Trump would now infamously say of undocumented Haitian immigrants, “they’re eating the dogs. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets.”

This claim was fact checked by moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis, who confirmed that a representative from Springfield, Ohio who assured them that no reports of any incident like that had been made.

“I saw it on TV,” Trump responded.

Other unfounded claims like these were fact checked by the moderators throughout the debate, including many of Trump’s rants about abortion in which he claimed the former Governor of West Virginia endorsed aborting a baby in the during or past the 9th month date, including after birth.

Moderator Linsey Davis quickly exclaimed that in no state is it legal to kill a baby after it is born.

Outbursts and subsequent damage control like this happened throughout the night as Trump scrambled to find a problem to latch onto and blame the Democrats for. Illegal immigration, his main calling card even since his campaign back in 2016, was a frequent topic of discussion.

“Crime in Venezuela and all over the world,” he said, “is down because they’re sending their criminals here.”

Moderator David Muir disproved this when he confirmed that the FBI stated violent crime was actually down in America, showing no effect from illegal immigrants entering the country.

Even from a political standpoint, Trump could not provide any real solution to the immigration problem. When asked how exactly he planned to deport 11 million people, he dodged it, and continued to berate Biden and Harris’ border control policies.

Even this was shot down, however, when Harris explained there *had* been a border control bill in the House of Representatives that Trump covertly told Republican representatives to vote against so he could “solve” the problem and make himself look good.

Trump has appeared more incompetent and insecure than ever. Despite his claims after the debate was done, it was an absolute loss on his part.

Loser(s): The American People
Kamala Harris came out of this debate looking better than Donald Trump, but no matter who you support, the debate paints a state of decay in American politics.

Harris attempted to focus on political policy throughout, but was forced into character assassination – a tactic that Trump continues to employ as well. She promised to reinstate Roe V. Wade into law, create an “opportunity economy” and she endorsed a two state-solution in Israel but that was as far as she got in the way of expressing her plans as President.

As far as the Democratic Party is concerned, their lack of action in the border crisis ,along with the genocide in Israel and economic struggles, puts them on the hotseat, especially because Harris failed to acknowledge these claims in any substantial way, electing instead to engage in Donald Trumps childish flare of insults. When asked why Trump’s tariff policies were still in place despite the Biden administration nearly being over, she dodged the question.

It is important for the American public to remember that despite Donald Trump’s character outside of being President, he and Harris are both politicians and will both avoid controversial topics if it means more votes. This was evident in the debate, with both candidates declining to provide an actual plan numerous times, and Trump even refusing to comment on certain topics.

The Republican Party, if they aren’t already, should be panicking after Trump’s performance as the fact checking and responses from Harris made a mockery of him on national television.

Neither the parties nor the people were properly represented in this debate. While Harris undoubtedly outlasted Trump in attempts at character assassination and won the personality contest that American politics seems to have become, she did not do much in proving she will be a better Democrat than Joe Biden. Trump didn’t even make an attempt to represent any practical plans at all leaving the Republican party at a loss after this debate.

Overall, the fact that American politics has become a test of popularity and a character assassination rather than a collaborative effort to improve the country is laughable. It could be argued it never was, but it is absolutely certain that it is worse than ever. After 8 years of Donald Trump bullying competition, making self righteous and often bigoted decisions, Presidential debates have gone from comparing policies to arguing over which candidate has better rallies. Laughable as it is, it’s worrying as well, and doesn’t bode well for this November’s election