On Sept. 10, the two major presidential candidates met in Philadelphia on the debate stage for the first time. Former president Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris faced off against one another. This was very different from the first debate that happened during the summer between Biden and Trump. That first debate I would describe as retirement home residents yelling across the room at one another. In that first debate, Biden looked like a crazy old man and Trump looked presidential. 

This second debate was very important for the democratic party. They had to prove that they made the right choice by switching their candidate to Vice President Harris. She had to prove that she has what it takes and could be presidential. If you ask me Harris went above and beyond what I was expecting. She looked very presidential and Trump was just rambling and unprepared for most of the night. There were plenty of times that he did not even answer the question and just went on talking about something else completely different. Trump would normally just double back to immigration, no matter what the question was. Another tactic he tried was to push false claims, one of the most notable being that the immigrant community in Springfield Ohio is eating the cats and the dogs. I will admit that he did do what he does best, which was word vomiting to just distract from the actual question. Trump is a good politician in that he seems confident in what he is saying and people believe him. He probably did not lose too much support that night but he also did not gain that much support. 

As for Harris, she exuded presidential energy, she seemed like she was well prepared and well composed. She showed a good temperament and did not take the bait. Which is important, because a lot of people think that women do not have what it takes to lead. I think that on this stage, she proved that women have what it takes to lead and probably are better suited than men are. Harris also knew just how to get under Trump’s skin, when to answer the question, and when to take a jab at Trump. She showed that she can handle bullies and that she could stand up to any world leaders. Now there were a few things she did I was not a fan of. Her answer to a question having to do with the massacre happening in Israel and Palestine was less than ideal. She said that Israel had a right to defend themself but they need to do it better. Harris needs to be tougher on Isreal and the genocide that they are committing. Harris also does not have the best position on the border and immigration. She supports an immigration bill that Democrats wrote that quite frankly seems like a Republican bill. The Democrats tried to go more conservative on their immigration stance and Harris went along with this shift. I wish Harris pushed against this shift and pushed against the Republican narrative saying that immigrants are coming and taking American jobs. We should be making it easier for people to come into the country and not harder.

All in all I think Harris did a great job that night and convinced a lot of people to give the Democrats a second chance. I can personally say I am actually excited to cast my vote for Kamala Harris. Not just as a vote against Trump but I think she will make a good president and I think that her performance during the debate proves that.