Analyzing the political fallout following the fiery Harris-Trump debate

To discuss the political fallout from Tuesday’s debate between Vice President Harris and former President Trump, Geoff Bennett spoke with Laura Barrón-López and Lisa Desjardins.

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Geoff Bennett: And Laura joins us now, alongside Lisa Desjardins, who’s been covering the Trump campaign.

Thank you both for being here.

So, Laura, the Harris campaign feels good about how last night went both in terms of Harris’ performance and the degree to which Donald Trump lost his composure multiple times last night. How does the debate in their view help her position in this campaign moving forward?

Laura Barron-Lopez: Well, the campaign feels as though it helps her immensely, that essentially the momentum she has had since she jumped into the race, they feel as though it’s only going to be furthered by the debate.

And that’s what a lot of Democrats that I spoke to said. They feel as though it’s totally different than how they felt after that June debate between President Biden and Donald Trump. They have particularly pointed out direct appeals that they feel Harris was wise to make to key voting blocs, specifically appealing to women on abortion, appealing to centrists and undecideds on January 6, as we reported, and also a direct appeal to some 800,000 Polish Americans in Pennsylvania itself, specifically in her defense of Ukraine.

And I also spoke to Geoff Duncan, a former lieutenant governor of Georgia, one of those Republicans that is backing Harris, and he said that Harris is making it hard for level-headed Republicans to vote for Trump again and is giving them a strong permission structure to vote for her.

Geoff Bennett: Lisa, meantime, Donald Trump is touting his debate performance. I think he said it was his best ever.

Lisa Desjardins: Right.

Geoff Bennett: It would be news if he didn’t say that, right?

But Lindsey Graham, one of his top allies, said it was a missed opportunity. How are other Republicans talking about his performance last night?

Lisa Desjardins: You’re right. The former president said he won the debate. He also said to Vice President Harris’ — the campaign idea that there will be another debate, he said he would consider it, but he said that’s a sign that she lost because she wants a rematch.

I haven’t heard anyone else say that except for the former president. But you’re right. From other Republicans, there are three reactions, one, silence. And I will say that is the majority reaction that I found even talking to members of Congress today and trying to reach out to their offices.

The other reaction that you hear, some are saying, well, there should have been more details from Harris, maybe the moderators were the problem, finding some other thing to talk about.

But there is a significant amount, like Senator Lindsey Graham, who are saying, this was a missed opportunity. And it’s significant to understand what the problems might be for them. Let’s look at the polling that we have from our PBS/NPR/Marist poll just this week about where the generic congressional ballot would go.

It is split almost right down the middle whether people would vote for a generic Republican or Democrat for Congress. But look at that, 8 percent undecided. This — the race for Congress can really still swing. The undecided number for the race for president right now in our poll, 1 percent. So all these members of Congress and Republicans know that this debate could affect who runs Congress.

Geoff Bennett: So, Laura, what are you hearing from voters about their initial reactions to last night’s debate?

Laura Barron-Lopez: We sat in on two focus groups run by never-Trumper Sarah Longwell’s firm. One was swing state voters who backed Trump in 2016 and then voted Biden in 2020.

And they praised how Harris conducted herself. And one Georgia voter in particular, Justin, so that the debate impacted his views about Harris.

Justin, Georgia Voter: I wanted some answers, which, in the beginning, Kamala didn’t seem like she was going to give, but she got there. She was definitely very presidential. I feel like I got all the answers from Kamala, but Trump just sat there taking her bait, like what was said, and not answering questions. I feel like she was the clear winner.

I think every time I watch Trump get on TV and rail and go nuts about a topic, it just pushes me further and further towards the Democratic Party. I was born and raised a Republican.

Laura Barron-Lopez: In this group of swing voters, they were asked if the election were held today, who would they vote for? And all nine of them said that it would be Harris. But the election isn’t today. And so there were a few of them that said they still wanted a bit more time to think about it.

And another group of people who voted for Trump in 2020, they weren’t as enthusiastic about either candidate and some expressing frustration with Kamala Harris as well, saying that they still wanted more policy details from her.

Geoff Bennett: Lisa, same question. What have you picked up from voters over the course of your reporting?

Lisa Desjardins: A quick note. I spoke to two Republicans who were formerly undecided and now leaning more toward Harris today.

Geoff Bennett: So, Laura, the Harris campaign — Harris campaign aides, as I understand it, they spent the day in Wilmington huddled trying to figure out how best to strategize on this momentum as they see it.

What are they telling you?

Laura Barron-Lopez: Well, most Democrats say that they don’t want to make the mistakes of 2016, so they think that she still needs to run like an underdog.

And to the point earlier about the fact that she’s trying to appeal to the centrists, two lifelong Pennsylvania Republicans in those focus groups today said that the recent endorsement from Cheney is pushing them more towards Harris. So she’s going to be hitting the ground in Pennsylvania, North Carolina in the days to come. Tim Walz will be in Michigan and Wisconsin, so they’re not taking any breaks right now, Geoff.

Geoff Bennett: And, Lisa, while we have you here, I have to ask you a question about what’s happening on the Hill, because House Republicans have a new problem. We are weeks away from a funding deadline. What’s the latest?

Lisa Desjardins: Well, today House Speaker Mike Johnson pulled the funding bill that Republicans wanted to pass through the House to have that stopgap measure go.

He could not get enough Republican votes to make it through. Attached to that was the Republican SAVE Act, which would require a national I.D. voter law. There were many different reasons. Different groups of Republicans oppose this. We have seen this playbook before. They just cannot get 217 votes, even though they have a majority.

Here’s what Speaker Johnson told reporters today.

Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA): No vote today because we’re in the consensus-building business here in Congress. With small majorities, that’s what you do, two primary obligations, responsibly fund the government, and make sure that our elections are free and fair and secure. And that’s what we’re working on.

Lisa Desjardins: Consensus-building is not going so well right now. They only have, depending on how you count, six to eight legislative days after this week to make that September 30 funding deadlines.

Right now, Democrats just expect to have another measure. They think this advantages them in a few ways, but we will see.

Geoff Bennett: We have seen this movie before.

Lisa Desjardins: Yes.

Geoff Bennett: Lisa Desjardins, Laura Barron-Lopez, thanks so much.

Lisa Desjardins: Thank you.