President Trump’s former primary opponent, Nikki Haley, predicted that whoever picked a younger candidate would win the race for the White House. The first sign of that prophecy’s ascent occurred on a debate stage in Philadelphia last week, as Donald Trump appeared as an “old man yelling at clouds” in contrast to Kamala Harris’s calm appearance. Harris had some help from the moderators, though it is hard to imagine Trump doing much better in a different setting when he spent time telling fantastical stories about immigrants “eating the pets.”

This debate marks an important milestone in this presidential race, as it will probably be the only debate between the candidates before the election. In this close election, both candidates had messages to give to voters watching. Harris introduced herself to Americans who knew little about her and separated herself from President Biden as a candidate. She also baited Trump into questions about his criminal charges and past statements.

Trump, on the other hand, attempted to tie Harris to the more liberal positions she took before becoming the vice president. Both candidates had messages to give Americans. Harris seemingly succeeded in her goals, as she was able to distinguish herself from President Biden and gave viewers a strong idea about what she will do as president. Trump, meanwhile, focused most of his energy on defending his past statements and redirecting the conversation away from yes-and-no questions. As an American, it is frustrating to watch Trump skirt around questions. The leaders of America need to be transparent with the people, not avoid talking directly.

Trump seemed more emotional in this debate, as some political commentators have pointed out that Kamala Harris used many tactics — such as mentioning how people leave Trump rallies in mass before they conclude — to get under Trump’s skin. The American people have seen Trump’s debate “style” many times, so we knew his plan going into this debate. However, his name-calling and shock value statements didn’t hit as hard in this debate for several reasons. Many of Trump’s main statements, mainly his statement about abortions after the baby is born, were effectively fact-checked and shut down by the moderators.

Overall, voters are looking for a semblance of a plan moving forward. While there wasn’t a clear one laid out by either candidate, Harris talked for much of the debate about looking forward while Trump appeared to focus on the past. If Trump can’t focus on the future of his campaign, independents may get sick of him and vote for Harris come November.

In the June 27 debate against Biden, Trump was perhaps the best he has ever been in a debate. His disciplined temper allowed the audience’s focus to shift toward Biden, whose performance was so bad that he lost the support of his party and ultimately withdrew from the race as an incumbent less than four weeks later.

Trump was the exact opposite against Harris. He was visibly frustrated and seemed unable to ignore Harris’s jabs against his persona while circling several issues back to illegal immigration, often illogically. It seems that he was incorrectly prepared, if he was even prepared at all. Also, fact-checking became a problem in the debate. This did nothing but interrupt the conversation because it skewed attention away from the candidates and toward the moderators. Current debates move far too quickly for moderators to factcheck. Candidates on both sides use way too many exaggerations, hyperboles, out-of-context remarks and outright lies for a moderator to adequately address them.

It is not new information, but it was still shocking to see how easy it was for Harris to manipulate Trump and play him like a fiddle. It should be concerning to everyone to watch a man who can be so easily predicted for good and bad. You push one button, and he will explode, but say one nice thing and he will eat out of the palm of your hand. Also, not new info, but it is problematic for him to know the story about immigrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, to be farcical, but to claim, “I saw it on television.” This continues to tell his supporters that all the disinformation they see on Fox is true and should be treated as legitimate information.

Both candidates had goals they needed to achieve going into the debate. Harris needed to define herself as a candidate and show the country what she stands for. Trump needed to stay focused and on message. Only one of them met their goals. While she did dodge several questions, Harris put a strong emphasis on her candidacy as a fighter for the middle class. She expressed several policy goals including $25,000 in assistance to first-time homebuyers, $50,000 in tax rebates for small business startups and a $6,000 child tax credit for young kids.

While the Biden campaign focused on “saving democracy,” the Harris campaign thus far has been more about “saving the middle class.” Trump on the other hand, did not do well with staying on message. As expected, he could not help himself from taking the bait whenever Harris got under his skin. Visibly upset in several instances, Trump repeatedly went off in rants unrelated to the topics at hand. The “cats and dogs” fiasco was not just simply Trump repeating patently false and dangerous talking points, as he is wont to do, but an embarrassing display of his inability to avoid being triggered. All Harris had to do was make a joke about his rally sizes, and he could not help but lose his cool.

As for Harris, her challenge going forward will be to convince people that she has her own agenda, unique from the past four years and that she told it to the people on the debate stage. If she intends to govern how she advertised, and avoids isolating herself from moderate voters, then she has a shot becoming the next president.

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