Notes from our Discussion a week after Trump/Harris Debate (9/17/2024)

 Notes from our Meeting on September 17, 2024, on the Presidential Debate

Our September 17th discussion centered around the Presidential debate held on September 10.

The first round of discussions involved answering the following questions:

• Overall, what did you think of the debate?

• Who do you think won, and why?

• When you cast your ballot for President just under two months from now, will you vote primarily for a person based on character or on policy issues? Please elaborate.

This is what the participants shared:

• Several attendees were embarrassed at the quality of the exchanges and were particularly concerned about the impression it created around the world

• Most who chose to take a side on this question went with Harris, yet there was a recognition that there are many ways to score a “win”.  While most post-debate polls about the debate indicated Harris won, it remains to be seen whether either candidate’s debate performance will affect election polling (or more importantly election results)

• There seemed to be a general consensus that both character and policy are important, but that character is a bigger concern for many in this presidential election than in prior years, with many nuances summarized below

• Many specific concerns about Trump’s character were noted, from being inconsistent on policies (acknowledged to be a general concern with any politician, but public statements like “terminate the Constitution” or “you won’t need to vote anymore” are more reckless than in the past) to his treatment of others (from name-calling to his actions following the 2020 election)

• Character can affect policies (i.e., Trump's statements about retribution).  Prior examples of notable presidential character lapses (e.g., Kennedy, Clinton) were not as clearly connected to policy

• Seems that Trump supporters value policy (many despite a dislike for Trump's character) and Harris supporters chose character although without necessarily knowing much yet about her policies

• The level of national campaign dialogue has sunk to new lows – almost like propaganda from third-world civil wars

• The value of character dates back to the first presidential debate in 1960; those who watched on television thought Kennedy the winner; those who only listened on radio thought Nixon won

• Bothered by Trump’s character but even more concerned that half the country appears to approve of his character through their support

• Concern that any individual politician’s character and policy are largely a figurehead for a larger administration; depending on who a leader selects to work in their administration this can be a good thing or a bad thing, along with how strong or weak the “spoils system” is

• Trump missed an opportunity in the debate to challenge Harris’s record – he only made a strong attempt in his closing statement.

The second round centered around sharing what attendees heard during the first round. This is what the participants shared:

• Harris espoused many proposals without depth, particularly re: how ideas would be funded

• A “show of hands” comment indicated that about half of the two-dozen attendees felt personally affronted by attacks from the other side on their preferred candidate

• Curious if uncommitted voters value character or policy more highly

• Neither candidate did a good job defending their policies – modern campaigns don’t have a good mechanism for discussing the merits of policy proposals

• Some of the support for Trump appears to be character-driven (i.e., “own the libs”) but glib statements are often masking deeper concerns (as we’re learning about in Springfield, OH)

• The remoteness of the presidency for the typical citizen may be one reason character may not rate as highly as it would for, say, a local politician

Toward the end of the conversation many noted a desire for conversations on policy, including potential topics for future Alliance meetings (red/blue proposals for fiscal policies that affect downstream kitchen-table economics suggested as a popular and timely topic).

A few comments noted recently read books, including: The Truths We Hold: An American Journey: Harris, Kamala: 9780525560715: Amazon.com: Books