Opinion - Donald Trump got a swift kick in the butt this week

Vice President Kamala Harris delivered a sharp blow to Donald Trump’s campaign in Tuesday’s nationally televised debate. Then, music idol Taylor Swift administered the coup de grace online, endorsing her in front of her 284 million Instagram followers.

An overwhelming majority of Americans who watched the Harris-Trump faceoff thought Harris the big debate winner, according to a national poll of registered voters conducted for CNN.

The Swift endorsement is a big deal. The race is still close, and the energy and enthusiasm generated by the Swifties will go a long way to increasing turnout among young women who overwhelmingly support the Democratic nominee. Since her call to action, more than 400,000 Swift fans have used her link to access the voter information site at Vote.gov.

The numbers got even worse for Trump Wednesday morning when the Fed announced that inflation eased to a three year low in August. The slowing of the increase in the cost of living and a reduction in migrant crossings at the southwest border undermine the central tenets of his attacks on the Biden-Harris administration. Facts have never been friendly to the former failed president.

Deep racial and social divisions in the body politic will prevent either candidate from gaining much of an advantage from their encounter, but Harris should get more of bump in the polls than Trump. This is a closely contested race, and that little bump could make a big difference.

The first encounter between Harris and Trump was more important for her than it was for him. The only thing that many voters know about Harris is that she is Joe Biden’s vice president. In contrast, voters know everything there is to know about Trump and more than they probably want to know.

Harris put her best foot forward for the Americans who don’t know her. The CNN post-debate survey indicated she filled in the blanks and that there was significant increase in her popularity which is exactly what she wanted out of introduction to the voting public.

She was cool, calm and collected while Trump was angry and irritated. Americans want a commander in chief who can function under pressure. Trump proved he can’t.

Trump started out well enough. His recent speeches have been rambling and incoherent. But the former president was focused at the beginning of the debate, hitting Harris hard on immigration and inflation. Then Harris applied the pressure and he folded like a cheap suit. She wore him down, just as an experienced prosecutor would a defendant on trial taking the witness stand in his own defense during a murder trial.

Optics are important in presidential politics. Harris smiled while he scowled. The expressions of the candidates reflected their world views. Trump’s America is a dog-eat-dog world where only the fittest and finest will survive. Harris wants a nation that gives everybody the opportunity to prosper and enjoy life.

What’s next? Trump’s attacks on the vice president will grow increasingly desperate. After his debate debacle, he’ll be angrier than a wet hen. But the more desperate he gets; the worse things could get for him.

If he loses the race for 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the convicted felon forfeits his get out of jail free card.

His best chance is to rally his base and hope for the best. In a closely competitive race, he might be right. His ardent supporters will respond to his charges of Haitian immigrants eating peoples’ pets. But swing voters in the electoral combat zone want more than that and demand more than that from the next president.

After the beating he took Tuesday from Harris, Trump has declined a rematch. He doesn’t have the guts to go up against the vice president again. Discretion is the better part of valor, but he leaves behind an indelible yellow stain as the only evidence of his battle against her.

Brad Bannon is a Democratic pollster, CEO of Bannon Communications Research which polls for Democrats, labor unions and progressive issue groups. He hosts the podcast Deadline D.C. with Brad Bannon. 

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.