Supporters of Kamala Harris were quick to throw accusations of sexism and “mansplaining” against Mike Pence after the vice presidential debate on Wednesday. This is because Harris clearly lost the debate. And it wasn’t because of some fabricated sexism from Pence, but because Harris is just a terrible debater and an awful candidate — something that became clear during the Democratic primaries.
Harris didn’t generate a viral moment from the debate. She was instead boxed into a corner by Pence on the question of packing the Supreme Court. Her rehearsed talking point was that President Trump was packing the courts by not appointing black people, and her quick-change-the-subject shift to a story about Abraham Lincoln was not even factually correct.
This, left-wing pundits concluded, was proof that Pence was a sexist who kept interrupting and talking over Harris. It didn’t matter that Harris finished the debate with more speaking time than Pence. Pence put forward a solid performance, just as he did four years ago against Tim Kaine.
It’s not sexism that caused Harris to struggle in a debate against the least bombastic Republican in public life. Harris is just not a good debater and not a good candidate.
Recall how Tulsi Gabbard disemboweled Harris on live television in a Democratic debate in July. Gabbard, a woman and a good debater, effectively ended Harris’s campaign at that moment. Harris’s only shining moment in debate was an obviously pre-arranged set-piece in the very first Democratic debate, in which she implied that Joe Biden was a racist based on his stance on federally mandated busing.
Harris went straight from serious candidate to dropping out of the Democratic primary before Iowa. After a strong announcement, she fell into the trap of running an “extremely online” campaign. In another debate lowlight, Harris even tried to attack Elizabeth Warren for not joining her in calling for Trump to be banned from Twitter.
Harris was caught throughout the Democratic primary flipping positions on healthcare and dodging key issues entirely by promising to “have a conversation” about them. There is a reason a perfect candidate on paper flamed out of the race before the first votes were even cast.
Harris’s defenders seem content to claim that women must be treated with a soft touch in debates. That is more sexist than anything Pence said or did during the debate.
