SAUNDERS: ABC moderators go easy on Harris, and other debate takeaways

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump walked onto the debate stage in Philadelphia deeply aware that he should show undecided voters that he is focused on issues and not his list of grievances.

But time was his enemy.

Trump did a solid job of hitting Vice President Kamala Harris on the U.S. economy and the chaos at the Southwest border under President Joe Biden, as well as her 2019 support for a ban on fracking — the very policies she supported, the very policies that have turned many Americans against Biden.

Trump also rightly noted that Harris had become the Democratic nominee even though “She got zero votes.”

But as the clock ticked, Trump claimed that he won the 2020 election, even though he lost it. And it was an odd decision given that Trump recently admitted on the Lex Fridman podcast that he lost the 2020 election “by a whisker.”

Trump refrained from calling Harris personal names. Even as she rattled off a host of areas where she argued Trump is weak — Ukraine, COVID, NATO — Trump did not lose his cool.

Harris was not afraid to confront Trump. Not at all. At one point she invited viewers to go to a Trump rally so they could watch attendees start to leave before Trump’s speech is over.

In short order, Trump mentioned news reports, which had been debunked, about illegal migrants killing Ohio residents’ pets.

Harris had to contend with a delicate balancing act herself — distancing herself from an unpopular incumbent who picked her as his running mate — without appearing disloyal.

“Clearly I am not Joe Biden,” Harris said at one point.

Trump, of course, sought to tie her with the president and his policy failures.

“Why hasn’t she done it?” Trump asked rhetorically about Harris’ newly found zeal — after 3½ years of dormancy — for enforcing immigration law.

The veep’s most important goal, of course, was to convince undecided voters that she is a moderate, not a San Francisco progressive.

In that regard, Harris got a lot of help from David Muir and Linsey Davis, the ABC News moderators, who did not press her particularly hard about her changing record on immigration enforcement, fracking and Medicare For All. When she bashed Trump’s record on COVID, she didn’t have to disclose what she would have done differently. Harris didn’t talk much about her own policy positions.

So who won? On style and points, I’d say Harris. But I don’t think Americans are looking for the best debater. They’re hungry for policies that will create jobs and economic stability. They don’t want Bidenomics. They want the economy they had under Donald Trump.

Contact Review-Journal Washington columnist Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal.com. Follow @debrajsaunders on X.