Far Left The New York Times We caught up with voters in five states who are still undecided and found they were not convinced by media pundits who overwhelmingly believe incumbent Vice President Kamala Harris won Tuesday night's presidential debate.
The biggest problem, these voters say, is Kamala's lack of concrete policy proposals, an issue that has dogged her since the successful coup against President Joe Biden in July.
“Bob and Sharon Reed, 77, retired teachers who live on a farm in central Pennsylvania, had high hopes for the debate.” Reports of TimesBoth thought the debate would be a decision, but it wasn't. “The whole thing was disappointing,” Sharon said. “They both ended the night wondering what was going on with the expensive programs each candidate supported. [would be paid for and] I didn't ask for detailed answers about immigration or foreign policy.[.]”
These undecided voters also complained that Kamala “doesn't seem much different from Biden and they want a change.”
“She hasn't separated herself from Biden,” said one undecided voter in Wisconsin. TimesHarris said she liked what she heard about “Trump's role in the January 6th insurrection,” but also said she “wanted to hear more specific policy proposals, especially compared to Biden's record.”
A 19-year-old college student from Milwaukee said he was impressed with Kamala, but once again, the lack of a policy meant the deal fell through. The student recently got his own home, but worries about the cost of housing and food. “She hasn't impressed me yet,” he said of Kamala. “I'm still undecided.”
Among the group as a whole, Trump appears to have received two votes and Kamala one.
“Trump's pitch was a little more persuasive than hers,” the North Carolina woman said. Times. “I seem to rely more on his facts than her vision.”
“When Trump was president, I'm not going to lie, my life was a lot better than it is now,” she added. “I've never been more depressed than I have been in the last four years. It's been a very difficult time for me.”
“Trump had a much better presentation,” said one undecided voter in Arizona. “Nothing Harris did made me think she was better, in any way.” She also said Trump “came off as crazy,” but that's how he always was at rallies and in interviews.
Undecided voters are faced with two deeply flawed candidates. Trump has been good at times, but he was at his worst Tuesday night. He was cranky, pedantic and petty. He seemed unable to put together a coherent idea or argument. But at the same time, Kamala was evasive, a bit vain and insincere and seemed afraid to offer any policy proposals beyond the platitude of “lifting up middle-class and working-class America.”
She had nearly four years as vice president to do so, and it would have been nice if she had said it sooner, rather than waiting until Trump's final remarks.
Across media, the response from undecided voters is fairly uniform: Even if they believe Harris won the debate, her lack of specifics and inability to explain her claimed vision have left them undecided and leaning toward Trump.
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