Politics are supposed to be about addition. I call it the first rule of politics. Aided by Republican sycophancy and the electoral college, Donald Trump threw out the first rule of politics long ago. It came back to haunt him last night: every time the Insult Comedian opened his mouth he lost votes; subtraction, not addition.

I had high expectations for Kamala Harris’ performance, but she was better than expected. The bar *was* set low for Trump but he still tripped over it.

Repeat after me: Kamala Harris is a total badass.

Trump claims that she’s destroyed the country. The only thing Kamala Harris has ever destroyed is her opponent last night. She made him look like a bigot with anger management issues. It’s called truth in advertising.

Throughout the evening, Kamala’s response to Trump’s malakatude was pitch perfect. Just look at the featured image: that’s the face of someone who feels sorry for the dirty old man she shared a stage with. Her more in sorrow than anger facial expressions and tone of voice made him look small and petty. Make that smaller and pettier.

Harris frequently made eye contact with her opponent. He never looked her in the eye, which made him look weak and scared. He slumped over his podium like a sulky teenager and gave the camera his mug shot photo face.

Trump’s political brand is based on dominance, but it was the Veep who set the tone and controlled the dialogue. She didn’t let him get away with his many lies and non-sequiturs. She knows what his hot buttons are and how to push them.

The turning point was when Harris dissed Trump’s crowd size and said that people left early because they were sick of his shit; my words, not hers but you know she was thinking it. Instead of ignoring Kamala’s dig, Trump walked into her trap and was never able to escape. That’s when his sustained meltdown began. His advisers claimed that Happy Trump would show up, instead Angry Donald ranted and raved incoherently. It was a marvel to behold.

Repeat after me: Let him talk. Every time he opens his mouth he loses votes.

The lies were really flying last night. Kamala didn’t let him get away with claiming that Minneapolis was burned to the ground or that immigration to the US led to reduced crime rates around the world and an explosion of crime in our country. The last I checked Minneapolis was doing fine and crime was down in America.

The Insult Comedian threw his hapless running mate to the wolves. I dig Josh Marshall’s take:

The debate basically ended after the extended exchange on abortion rights. Trump’s answers were meandering, defensive and absurd, topped off by a completely needless decision to throw JD Vance under the bus. Harris I think hit every point her campaign or probably any abortion rights advocate could have wished for. She didn’t stop with definitive promises to defend abortion rights. She went into an extended discussion of the human impact of what she branded “Trump abortion bans.”

Another highlight was when Trump repeated JD Donut’s lie about immigrants eating cats and dogs in Ohio. David Muir corrected him but when the Kaiser of Chaos is on a lie roll, he cannot pull back, he’s all in.

As I said in yesterday’s pre-game post, I had low expectations of the moderators. I didn’t think they’d call Trump on his shit. I was wrong. I’ve always thought of David Muir as an empty suit with a pretty face. His face *is* pretty, but his suit is full. Mea culpa.

The contrast between the Muir/Davis and Tapper/Bash approach to moderating a debate with Trump couldn’t be starker: the CNN duo ate all the shit he fed them; the ABC duo spat his shit right back at him. In a word: Impressive.

As the Veep said several times, the Insult Comedian’s shtick is old and tired. There’s nothing new, fresh, or positive about his spiel. According to Trump, America is a dying country ruined by Joe Biden. Trump seems confused as to who he’s running against. He just can’t quit Joey Shark.

For good or ill, I’ve watched every presidential debate live since 1976. Kamala Harris’ was the best performance I’ve ever seen, Donald Trump’s was the worst. She was in command of the facts and herself. He doesn’t know what facts are and is incapable of controlling himself. Winning a debate is no guarantee of victory but it beats the hell outta losing.

Repeat after me: Every time Trump opened his mouth, he lost votes.

As a partisan Democrat, it’s hard for me to tell how this debate played with undecided voters. I’m certain of one thing: many Americans wish former President* Pennywise would just go away.

It was the first time in eons that I was entertained by a political debate. The prosecutor was that good, the convicted felon was that bad.

I stopped predicting elections in 2016, but my gut instinct tells me that it won’t be as close as most think it will be. Pundits are like generals: they think the next war will be like the last one; in the immortal words of Dan Rather, tight as a tick. I feel the ground shifting because of Trump fatigue. A majority of Americans think the Insult Comedian is an obnoxious asshole. People should vote accordingly. It’s important to roll up the score on this mook: the bigger the margin, the harder it will be to make successful claims of fraud.

Repeat after me: Kamala Harris is a total badass.

The last word goes to Elton John. Just change freedom to beatdown and Bob’s your anti-Trump uncle: