Kamala Harris uses Donald Trump's playbook in US presidential debate, treads cautiously on Gaza

In the first—and possibly only—presidential debate between US Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, the Democratic candidate showed that she had the energy President Joe Biden lacked, though it's unclear if it will be enough to win in the polls.

With the two major parties' candidates in a virtual tie heading into Tuesday's debate, attendees at a watch party at the Commonwealth Club in downtown San Francisco seemed to be feeling a sense of dread as they took their seats in front of the big screen.

That quickly changed as Harris got past what appeared to be initial nervousness in her opening remarks, and then went on to use Trump's long-time play book of personal insults against him, drawing laughter and something of a collective sigh of relief for her supporters.

"Most of all, Harris isn't Biden. That to me is the biggest takeaway," J. Miles Coleman, associate editor of Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, told The New Arab. "I think she did rise to the occasion."

A night of mud-slinging

In one of her more memorable jabs at Trump, Harris suggested that his crowd sizes were small because people got bored at his rallies due to his replayed rants that lack policy substance.

"I'm going to actually do something really unusual, and I'm going to invite you to attend one of Donald Trump's rallies because it's a really interesting thing to watch," she said, as she noted some of his more eccentric talking points from his rallies.

"You will see during the course of his rallies he talks about fictional characters like Hannibal Lecter. He will talk about windmills cause cancer. And what you will also notice is that people start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom," she said.

Sure enough, Trump took the bait, setting aside the question from the moderator about immigration and focusing on the size of his rallies.

"People don't leave my rallies. We have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics," he said, after accusing Harris of paying people to attend her gatherings.

Harris continued to use Trump's own attacks against him. When he brought up Biden's chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, Harris reminded viewers that he invited the Taliban to Camp David, describing the move as a sign of disrespect to US diplomacy and military service.

On some of Trump's more farfetched claims, such as accusing Democrats of supporting the execution of babies (in reference to their position on abortion rights), and accusing migrants of eating domestic animals (from a rumour about Haitians kidnapping and eating pet cats), the moderators were able to quickly fact-check these statements. This prompted some on the right to complain that Trump was unfairly getting fact-checked more than Harris.

Both are hawkish on foreign policy

As for US foreign policy and the two major conflicts in the Eastern Europe and the Middle East, Harris came down hard on Trump for his close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but did not press him on his close ties with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, even though he has visited him at his Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago, this summer.

When asked by a moderator how she would resolve the war in Gaza, which has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians and secure the release of the approximately 100 Israelis still being held by Hamas, Harris gave a relatively standard political response, saying that Israel had the right to defend itself and that she supports a two-state solution. 

Going somewhat further in her sympathy for Palestinians than Biden, she said that far too many Palestinian civilians are being killed and that a ceasefire is needed to end the war.

Bill Holcomb, a professor attending the watch party who was generally impressed with Harris's debate performance in terms of her plans to support small businesses and what he saw as an overall positive message, was nonetheless disappointed in her brief comments on the Middle East, which he believes could have been bolder.

"I'm not sure she offered any solution to the Middle East," he told TNA. "I was a little disappointed in her strong support for Israel. It's true that borders need to be defended, but 41,000 people, thousands of children, it makes no sense to me. I think she should have been stronger on that issue in calling it a genocide, which it is. I think she was weak on that."

Another watch party attendee, Dylan Hirsch-Shell, a candidate for San Francisco mayor, said he was pleased with Harris's performance, particularly her plan for the child tax credit for families with new babies. 

For her response on Gaza, he expressed sympathy for her cautious statement, knowing that she is under tremendous pressure on the issue.

"I think she's doing what she needs to do, which is telling both sides that there's a wrong that needs to be addressed. It's a very difficult job, because people on both sides feel aggrieved and want to see the other side pay," he told TNA. 

"At some point you need to let both sides know that this is a line in the sand, where going forward we're no longer going to go for retribution. It has to be reconciliation. Just like with South Africa with what Nelson Mandela was able to accomplish," he said.