Dee-bate

"Dee-bate. You know if you think about it, that's a funny word. Dee-bate."

You're gonna need the Smiling Friends clip, folks, because once again, it's debate night.

Now, I don't think I need to recap what has happened since the last debate that makes this one such an unpredictable wildcard of an event. It's been like living in an "Oops, all tragedy!" episode of The West Wing. That was, at least, until Harris stepped in to run in Biden's place, and even then, we can't get too comfortable. As good as her poll numbers are now, remember what happened with Hillary Clinton. Now is not the time to get cocky. As we have been shown, the entire political landscape in this country can change dramatically in a manner of seconds. All it takes is one turn of the head.

This debate is gonna be pretty huge. We're going to see Donald Trump, fresh off an assassination attempt and undoubtedly keen to milk that for it's worth, face off against one of his sworn enemies, Kamala Harris (who is a relatively young Democratic woman of color, attributes that are winning her no favor in the sight of the former president). Donald Trump won't be playing on easy mode. He won't be able to score points for being able to put together a natural-sounding sentence about how ninety percent of babies are aborted two weeks after birth or whatever. He is now the old man in the room. Plus, let's not forget his history of being enormously unfiltered. I can't be the only one morbidly intrigued about the thought of the old racist/misogynist having a 1950s moment onstage.

This debate, of course, is a big test for Harris. So much of her campaign thus far has been built on vibes and vibes alone, and that may well be a good strategy. Vibes are going to contribute enormously to who wins this election. But Harris needs to prove that she can not just counter Trump's vibes, but offer a viable counter to his policy and vision for America as well. I have confidence that she can do this. Let us not forget that Trump's policy and vision for America revolves around getting revenge on people he feels has wronged him, allowing the people who tried to overthrow the government to walk free, and cozying up to Vladimir Putin. I've stepped on better policies than that.

It's gonna be a big night. I'll be watching attentively and preparing my thoughts for the post-mortem post that I'll probably post tomorrow (let's throw in one more "post" for good measure).