She had him at the handshake—now it’s our turn to crush Trump

Trump world is freaking out!

There are many moments people can point to for when Vice President Harris began to win the debate with convicted felon Donald Trump.  But to me, Harris won even before a word was said by either candidate.

That moment came in the seconds after ABC News co-moderator David Muir declared, “So let's now welcome the candidates to the stage. Vice President Kamala Harris and President Donald Trump." The two candidates then walked out on stage.

As a reminder, in the June debate between President Biden and Trump, there was no traditional handshake between the candidates. But this time Harris walked directly to Trump to shake his hand. From there, Trump literally tried to avoid her by walking behind his podium. But Harris—as we would see later during the debate—was not going to let Trump get away with anything. She followed him, crossing over the midpoint of the stage, walking behind his lectern and extending her hand. A stunned Trump had no choice but to shake hands. Harris had cornered Trump and made him agree to her terms.

That moment was not just noticeable to me.  Former FBI agent and body language expert Joe Navarro wrote in Politico about the handshake: “When Harris initiated the handshake, she embodied her message of unity over divisiveness, and demonstrated that she wasn’t afraid to take Trump on. It took him off guard.” He added, “As she walked back to her side of the stage, she had a big grin on her face. She got what she wanted, and she knew it.”

That point was echoed by other body language experts like Mark Bowden who told UK’s Sky News: "It was a power move. I don't think he was expecting that."

In that simple moment, Harris showed America who was in charge. And at same time, she unnerved Trump—a self-professed “germaphobe,” who is misogynistic and a white supremacist. Harris forcing Trump to shake the hand of a woman of color on national TV clearly had an impact. Trump may have early dementia, but he got what she did.

There were so many other places that Harris masterfully taunted Trump such as on his fans leaving his rallies early stating, “What you will also notice is that people start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom.” That caused Trump to hysterically lash out: “People don't go to her rallies. There's no reason to go. And the people that do go, she's busing them in and paying them to be there.”

Harris mockingly declared that “world leaders are laughing at Donald Trump,” slamming him as “weak.” And Harris clearly got under his thin skin with the line, “Donald Trump was fired by 81 million people, so let’s be clear about that” adding, “clearly he is having a very difficult time processing that.”

We knew Harris would prevail on policy—the only question was how would she deal with the serial lying Trump. And she crushed him. One of my favorite lines was when Harris declared about Trump, “I said it at the beginning of this debate, you're going to hear a bunch of lies coming from this fella. And that is another one.”

The Trump debate debacle was undeniable. CNN’s famed post-debate flash poll found 63% say Kamala Harris won the debate to only 37% saying Trump won. That is literally the reverse of the June Biden-Trump poll when 63% thought Trump won.

Washington Post did a real time focus group of 25 uncommitted, swing-state voters during the debate. Twenty three said Harris did better with several of them now saying they are voting for Harris. (When will corporate media start calling for Trump to drop out like they did to Biden after the June debate?! Spoiler: Corporate media will never hurt Republicans.)

We know Trump world gets that Trump bombed horribly. Lindsey Graham said after the debate it was a “disaster” and that Trump’s debate team should be fired. Meanwhile Trump and his minions all blamed the moderators for daring to fact check in a few places, with Trump calling Fox News Wednesday morning to claim it was “three against one.”  In the world of MAGA’s white supremacy, they will never admit that their grand wizard Trump got crushed by a Black woman.

Harris did her job perfectly. Now it’s up to us. Don’t expect a big bump in polls. As a reminder, even after the June debate where Biden struggled, in the average of polls over the next month Trump’s lead only grew by 1.5% to about 3 points.  And both Trump in 2016 and  George W. Bush in 2004 were viewed as having lost debates but went on to win the White House.

However, we already saw one tangible benefit for Harris. The wildly popular Taylor Swift  endorsed Harris immediately after the debate, writing on social media, “I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them. I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos.” 

In her post, Swift also did something vitally important—she included a link for her fans to make sure they are registered to vote and info on early voting in each state.

In addition, Harris’s debate success will amp up the enthusiasm that is already on her side.  As I wrote about last week, polls show Democrats are considerably more enthusiastic to vote than Trump supporters—with a recent Gallup poll showing a 15% advantage to Democrats.  As experts have long noted, “When you hear the phrase “enthusiasm gap,” what you should really be thinking of is the turnout gap.”  And as Gallup noted in connection with their poll on voter enthusiasm, “The party with the higher net-enthusiasm score at the end of a presidential campaign usually sees their candidate win.”  

As Harris said in her closing statement at the debate, “I think you've heard tonight two very different visions for our country. One that is focused on the future and the other that is focused on the past. And an attempt to take us backward.” She then powerfully added, “But we're not going back.” 

We are now 55 days until this election is over.  Early voting begins in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania this Monday, Sept 16.  That is followed by Virginia on Sept 20 and the list goes on. For those who want to turn the page on Trump as Harris put it, the answer is right before us.

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