From CalMatters politics reporter Yue Stella Yu:
Within the first — and maybe solely — presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump Tuesday evening in Philadelphia, the duo tussled over abortion rights, well being care, border safety, worldwide relations and extra for 90 minutes.
They managed to not point out California even as soon as.
The Golden State — and all that conservatives have been blaming the state for — have been notably absent, which shocked some political specialists.
“Trump’s message has been to attack Harris for being a liberal Californian,” stated Christian Grose, political science professor on the College of Southern California. “Trump missed an opportunity to tag Harris as someone from California out of step with the independent voters of swing states.”
Republicans — who’ve railed towards deep-blue California for many years — have been attacking Harris’ Oakland roots and political profession within the state, attempting to outline her as too radical for America. That model, some political specialists say, is partly why no California Democrat has ever change into president.
However Harris got here the closest to mentioning her personal California report. “I am the only person on this stage who has prosecuted transnational criminal organizations for the trafficking of guns, drugs and human beings,” she stated, referring to her time as California legal professional common.
All through the controversy, Trump as an alternative repeated unsubstantiated claims on undocumented immigrants and exaggerated statistics on inflation and the dying toll through the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He insisted he had received the 2020 election, despite the fact that there isn’t a proof of fraud to help his declare. He repeatedly attacked Harris as “the worst vice president” in American historical past, and doubled down on his July remark that Harris had “turned Black.”
Harris spent the evening drawing the distinction between her and Trump, urging Individuals to maneuver past bickering and “name-calling” and talk about tangible insurance policies.
“We see in each other a friend. We see in each other a neighbor,” she stated. “We don’t want a leader who’s constantly trying to have Americans point their fingers at each other.”
- Grose: “She wanted to appear presidential to a national audience — and the lack of discussion of California and her older positions here helped her.”
Extra on Harris: CalMatters has a number of items on Harris’ report, together with her profession as a prosecutor, her fundraising ties to the stateher stance on abortion and the methods California has formed her political profession. We additionally took a deep dive evaluating Harris and Trump on well being look after Californians.
Newsom again on the path: Gov. Gavin Newsom returned to the presidential marketing campaign fray, showing on cable information simply earlier than the controversy and exhibiting up within the post-debate spin room. Earlier Tuesday, he visited Harris-Walz headquarters in Philadelphia and contrasted Harris and Trump on CBS. Newsom was amongst President Joe Biden’s most enthusiastic supporters earlier this summer time, however pulled again from the path after Biden withdrew in late July. Newsom solely made temporary remarks on Harris’ behalf on the Democratic conference final month.
