Tim Walz’s speaks in Mesa before the presidential debate on Tuesday
“Kamala Harris will cut the red tape, she’ll put in an agenda that puts you first, and no matter who you are or where you live you make the choices about your life”
Among Vice President Kamala Harris’ supporters in Arizona, her Tuesday evening debate with former President Donald Trump was met with a sense of confidence and relief.
At a debate watch party in Phoenix organized by the Harris campaign, attendees tittered as the former president argued in his opening remarks that the economy was better while he was president and, later, that he had “nothing to do” with Project 2025, the conservative policy blueprint put together by former Trump administration officials.
They groaned at Trump’s claim that Harris “doesn’t have a plan,” laughed uproariously when he labeled her a “Marxist,” and contentedly ticked campaign buzzwords off of bingo cards distributed before the debate.
It was a far cry from the anxiety that gripped Arizona Democrats after President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance months ago. Uncertainty roiled the party for weeks as the debate performance sparked a wave of concern about Biden’s age and fitness for office.
The party’s mood flipped when Harris replaced Biden at the top of the ticket. Harris is widely seen as a more formidable opponent against Trump than Biden was, making Arizona all the more competitive in the Nov. 5 general election.
The GOP held debate watch parties in Arizona on Tuesday evening, too, but they were closed to the media, according to Halee Dobbins, the Republican National Committee’s Arizona communications director.
Anti-Trump Republican tunes in to watch Trump missteps
Cliff Dawson was the rare Republican in attendance at the Tuesday evening watch party.
Dawson has always been registered with the GOP, though he has been willing to vote across party lines. He picked former President Barack Obama over the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in 2008, has never voted for Trump, and would never vote for a GOP candidate who is an “election denier.”
In an interview before the debate, he said his top issue as a voter is “democracy” and believes Trump, who has been convicted on 34 felony counts for falsifying business records, is running for office “to stay out of jail.”
He said he didn’t expect to learn anything from Tuesday evening’s debate. Rather, he was eagerly awaiting missteps by Trump.
“I want to see some self-incrimination,” Dawson said.
Trump’s rhetoric ‘terminally online,’ reacts one Democrat
The word “weird” bounced around the room as Trump concluded a rambling answer that began with praise for Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban, and ended with a claim that President Joe Biden “hates” Harris.
Chase Kerby, a Democrat who lives in Chandler, grumbled intermittently as Trump and Harris went back and forth.
“I’ve heard enough of his lies … and frankly, listening to his answers makes everyone less intelligent for having heard them,” Kerby said.
“Most of what he has to say is only interpretable through a terminally online, Fox News lens.”
Earlier in the debate, Trump repeated bogus claims about immigrants eating pets, which went viral online ahead of the debate. The claims were promoted by several prominent Republicans and the Arizona Republican Party, despite being factually baseless.
“If I was live tweeting this, I’d have carpal tunnel already,” Kerby joked.
Ricardo Reyes, a 42-year-old organizer with the veterans group Common Defense who lives in Phoenix, had a positive review for Harris at a different watch party in Mesa.
“Kamala is playing Trump pretty well,” Reyes said. “What Trump is trying to do is just throw out fearmongering and divisive rhetoric. And so far, I think Kamala has handled it very well.”
Reyes voted for both McCain and former President Barack Obama, and he considers himself an independent. Reyes said he has felt pushed toward Democrats as the Republican Party has shifted rightward in recent years.
Actress Kate Walsh, who played an OB/GYN on the hit television show “Grey’s Anatomy,” visited the Phoenix watch party to stump for Harris.
In remarks delivered after the debate, Walsh said she relied on Planned Parenthood at a time when she didn’t have health care and called the election a matter of “life or death” on the issues of abortion rights and gun violence.
On the attack: Harris, Trump strike combative tones over records, plans in debate
Arizona Republic reporter Stephanie Murray contributed to this article.
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Publish date : 2024-09-10 17:58:00
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