Postscript: Harris, Trump, and the Politics of Presidential Debates

New Books in American Studies

In June, a presidential debated ended the candidacy of incumbent President Joe Biden. On September 10th, Vice President Kamala Harris and Former President Donald Trump debated in Philadelphia and two flash polls done by CNN and YouGov declared Harris the winner. Political scientists know that debate wins don’t necessarily translate into November victories. Barack Obama lost his first debate and Walter Monday won his. To unpack the impact of this usually September debate, we have two presidential politics scholars and friends of the podcast. The spirited conversation highlights baiting techniques used by Harris, the role of the moderators in fact checking, whether a hand shake shook up Trump, the meaning of “she put out,” and

Dr. Meena Bose is the Executive Dean for Public Policy and Public Service Programs at the Peter S. Kalikow School of Government, Public Policy and International Affairs and director of the Peter S. Kalikow Center for the Study of the American Presidency, both at Hofstra University. Dr. Daniel E. Ponder is the L.E. Meador Professor of Political Science and Director of the Meador Center for Politics and Citizenship at Drury University.

We mentioned:

• Trump speaking 43 minutes to Harris’s 37:41 from New York Times
• Seth Masket’s “Baiting is the Hardest Part”
• Trump’s belief that shaking hands is barbaric from Washington Post
• Transcript of the September 10th POTUS debate from ABC News
• Julia Azari’s Foreign Affairs article
• Bret Stephen’s New York Times column

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