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on the evening of september 10th, local time,first debate between us vice president and democratic presidential candidate harris and former president and republican presidential candidate trumpit started with a handshake, but did not end with a handshake as the two accused each other on issues such as economy, immigration, abortion, and national security.

the originally scheduled 90-minute debate ended up lasting more than 100 minutes. according to cnn statistics, trump spoke for about 42 minutes and 52 seconds, and harris spoke for about 37 minutes and 36 seconds.

harris found a "sparring partner" in advance

democrats are very happy with harris' performancesatisfied, this is in stark contrast to the "disaster performance" of the current president biden in june. the wall street journal provided a detail that politiciansgenerallyin the publicity roomwhen presenting your views to a reporter,after biden's debate,democrats are slow to enterxuanpassroom.

this time,members of harris' team praised harris' performance to reporters in the publicity room.california governor gavin newsom said:“she performed very well.she'll go even higher.".presumablydemocrats across the country breathed a sigh of relief, thinking:this is what it looks like.

trump also feels that he“win. hehe posted multiple messages on social media to celebrate his victory, saying that this was the best debate he had ever had and that he was outnumbered three people (harris and two moderators), which showed his "heroic qualities."

on september 10, trump and harris shook hands before their first televised debate. image source: visual china

xiang haoyu, a distinguished researcher at the asia-pacific institute of the china institute of international studies, toldchangan street governor (wechat id: capitalnews)，unless one side makes an obvious mistake in this kind of debate, the general result is that both camps believe they have won. in particular, the support groups of both sides are clearly divided, and they will not pay specific attention to or listen carefully to the other side's position, but will only firmly believe in the views of the candidate they support.

xiang haoyu analyzed:in terms of individual performance, as it was the first face-to-face confrontation between the two, both sides seemed a little restrained and basically performed normally according to their previous preparations.but in comparison, harris is slightly better.she played to her identity as a woman and her stance on abortion was more convincing. on immigration, harris seized on trump's lies and launched a fierce attack on trump's support for inciting the capitol hill riots, making the other side seem somewhat passive.

trump seems to have not found any obvious weaknesses in harris, and his attack on the democratic party is still the same old tune, lacking in new ideas.compared to outside expectations, he was relatively calm and restrained. although there were still some exaggerations and even lies, he appeared to be experienced overall and did not lose any obvious points.

according to us media reports, harris had been "preparing for the debate" in a hotel in pittsburgh a few days before the debate.she found a former assistant of hillary as a "sparring partner" and asked him to play the role of trump.he also used lighting and scenery to create an environment similar to the debate scene to help himself get into the right state. at the same time, trump frequently held campaign rallies in various places to gather popularity.‍‍‍

trump in the debate. source: visual china

ji xianbai, associate professor at the school of international relations of renmin university of china and researcher at the institute of regional and country studies, believes thattrump and harris showed completely different styles in the debate.trump is known for his direct and fierce language. he is accustomed to using exaggeration and tough stance to incite emotions, and he often inserts personal attacks to make the debate atmosphere tense.he tends to interrupt others, emphasize personal achievements and self-affirmation, and bring the focus of the debate to the personal level.

harris, by contrast, took a more structured approach to her responses, trying to explain her policy positions through logical analysis and factual evidence. however, in some cases, her rebuttals failed to get directly to the heart of the issue and seemed to be off track.

it is worth noting that throughout the debate,both sides seem to be more focused on exposing each other's weaknesses rather than delving into the specific content and impact of policies.in addition, because both sides had prepared responses to potential questions in advance, a "programmed" answer pattern emerged during the debate, with frequent topic changes and irrelevant answers, which affected the depth and breadth of the debate.

there is a detail that clearly shows this: during the debate,trump attacked the current government's immigration policy, saying that harris and other democrats allowed a large number of immigrants to enter the country in order to win votes, which was equivalent to allowing "millions of criminals," "terrorists," and "drug dealers" to pour into the united states, pushing up the crime rate.harris responded by saying, "these words come from a person who has been prosecuted." the implication is that trump is a person who has been convicted.

american politics is becoming increasingly polarized

the associated press said that this debate is a decisive showdown that may affect the course of the entire campaign. foreign media analysis believes that this debate is very likely to reshape the campaign and election situation in the final sprint stage, and may even be the key to the success or failure of the two elections.

however, the experts interviewed believe, it’s too early to say how much impact this debate will have on the campaign.analysis of ji xianbai，historical experience shows that candidates’ performance in debates can indeed affect the outcome of elections, but in recent years, with the deepening polarization of the american political ecology and the booming development of social media,the group of neutral voters has shrunk and voters' positions have become increasingly solidified, weakening the traditional role of debates as a way to guide undecided voters to make their choices.

xiang haoyu also believes that the debate was a normal one for both sides, with no clear winner or loser, so it will not have a big impact on the election. judging from the initial reactions of both camps and supporters, they are also relatively satisfied with the performance of their respective candidates, so this debate will not affect their respective bases.as for the impact on middle-class voters, we still need to wait for the latest poll results in seven swing states to observe.at present, the impact is limited, and we need to track the performance of the two people in the future.

harris in the debate. source: visual china

changan street governor (wechat id: capitalnews)notice thatin this debate, harris and trump's positions were in sharp contrast. the two candidates had serious differences on major topics such as inflation, health care and immigration, and each side insisted on its own views and attacked each other.

xiang haoyu pointed out,this phenomenon truly reflects the current reality of political polarization and divided public opinion in the united states. both candidates are trying their best to please their base and win over middle-of-the-road voters by denying the other's positions. this has led to a growing difference in the policy positions of the two sides. to some extent, this is a necessity of election strategy.but no matter who comes to power in the end, they still need to consider how to gain consensus between the two parties in order to better implement various policy proposals.

ji xianbai pointed out that the deadlock in this debate wasthe root cause lies in the fundamental differences in the two parties and the two candidates' understanding of social issues, economic policies and international relations.this difference is like a chasm. not only is it difficult to find a consensus, but it also prompts them to adopt more radical rhetoric and strengthen their opposing positions. at the same time, as the election campaign progresses, the images of trump and harris in the minds of voters are becoming increasingly solidified, and the opposition between the two supporters is becoming more intense. this atmosphere further hinders rational communication and compromise in the debate.

in this context, debates are no longer a platform for seeking understanding and consensus, but have evolved into a stage for each camp to display its position and attack its opponent. this trend has not only deepened the division in american society, but also posed a severe challenge to the formulation and implementation of future policies.

taylor swift's photos posted on social media‍‍‍‍‍‍

it is worth mentioning that after the debate, taylor swift, a very popular pop singer in the united states, publicly stood up and announced her support for the harris-waltz combination, calling for votes for them. in her statement, she called herself a "childless cat lady" and attached a photo of herself holding a cat. this move was intended to respond to the republican vice presidential candidate vance's ridicule of harris as a "childless cat lady."‍‍

according to cnn, when asked "how he reacted to swift's support for harris," trump responded, "i don't know."

china: don’t talk about china

changan street governor (wechat id: capitalnews)notice thatchina is a key topic in this debate.trumpreiterated its stance on imposing higher tariffs on chinese imports and proposed a 60% tariff as a countermeasureshi,harris did not say the tariffs would be lifted.

“trump is more focused on balancing china through economic pressure, while harris advocates dealing with sino-us competition through the enhancement of technological competitiveness and international cooperation.ji xianbai pointed out.

“the democrats put more emphasis on mobilizing and leveraging the power of allies, while trump emphasizes the use of protectionist measures such as tariffs."the only consensus is that both sides attach importance to strengthening the united states' own strength, but trump is more inclined to 'america first' protectionism and isolationism, while the democratic party emphasizes ideological competition and camp confrontation."

in response to the two's remarks on china, chinese foreign ministry spokesman mao ning responded at today's regular press conference:"the election is an internal affair of the united states. i will not comment on the election rhetoric. but we also oppose the use of china as an issue in the us election."‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

trump and harris. source: visual china

over the years, videos and jokes of mutual bickering and personal attacks between u.s. presidential candidates have often been widely circulated on social platforms after debates.for the chinese public who do not take a stand,xiang haoyu said that observing the performance of us presidential candidates in public debates is not only an intuitive basis for judging the direction of the election, but also the most effective way to understand their policy proposals.

the debate not only allows us to discover the personal traits of the us presidential candidates, but also allows us to think about the pros and cons of their respective positions by comparing the two. this helps to deepen our understanding of us politics and public opinion, and in turn, to form certain predictions about the direction of us domestic and foreign policies and sino-us relations in the next four years.

changan street governor