By Anjan Roy
If debates between rival leaders decided outcomes, then Kamala Harris has won the US presidential race. The entire media, including the arch conservative ones, could not but admit that the debate on September 10 night could not have been better for Harris, and worst for Donald Trump.
Donald Trump, former president, and Kamala Harris, the current vice president of the United States, who is fighting Trump for the presidency, clashed in a debate on Tuesday in USA.. It was billed as the most watched TV show and is likely to swerve voting behaviour.
Indian diplomatic establishment must take note of the debate and position itself accordingly to deal with the future administration. This is important as India should not once again be caught on the wrong foot, as in the case of Bangladesh.
Joe Biden had initially been the Democratic candidate and Donald Trump the Republican. However, in a debate between the two, the former was shown up as too old and feeble, even to remember critical facts, dates and names. The result, how Biden had to drop out and Kamala Harris, vice president and Biden’s running mate had chipped in.
Right from the start, Harris 59, scored over Trump, who is 78. The race was between the future, represented by youthful Harris, and the old Mr Trump.
The September 10 debate has confirmed this black and white picture of the race as throughout the clash, Harris put in a futuristic turn, while Donald Trump was cornered into defending his first term as president with his known views about America in decline.
Instead, Harris put the American people centrestage in her debating strategies and presented herself as a generational change.
The brownie points were that while Harris could argue and speak with confidence and verve, the former president Donald Trump was angry and not cogent enough in his orations. He was missing Joe Biden as a rival and detested Kamala Harris.
This was obvious as Trump was constantly seeking to brand Harris with Biden and seeking to interpret the debate in that fashion. It rebounded on Donald Trump as he was rebuked by Harris when she said: “You are fighting with me, not Joe Biden”.
There are several credit lines for Harris. She looked in command while Trump was ranting and puffing right from the start. She scored with women voters as she described Donald trump’s position on “abortion” as insulting to American women.
Women’s rights to abortion, interpreted as their rights over their own body, is one of the most sensitive issues in America. In a recent case decided by the conservatives in US Supreme Court, women’s rights over abortion have been curtailed and this has tremendously upset American women.
Confidently, Kamala Harris had strode across the podium into Donald Trump’s side and shook hands with the latter. That gesture alone spoke a ton about who was in control. He looked rather on the defensive and reserved in that hand shake.
It was not until the end of the debate that Trump could really make any solid criticism of Harris and the policies she spoke of.
At the rounding up of the debate, Trump could say that Harris did nothing to take forward the policies and issues she spoke of in the debate in the last four years as vice president with President Biden.
But Harris pursued, from the beginning, Donald Trump as he was through and through angry and therefore not very cogent.
Indian diplomatic strategies cannot be very easy if Harris becomes the president instead of Trump. Harris is of Indian origin and therefore she has to prove doubly that she is not extra sympathetic towards India. She is also presenting herself as a west-oriented leader closely aligned with Europe.
She has also cast herself in the same mould as Joe Biden and positioned herself as a Russia hawk. She would rather go full hog helping Ukraine and encourage it to fight an overbearing Russia. She has shown herself as all for strengthening NATO.
More importantly for the Indian Prime Minister, Kamala with her lawyer background is a strong defender of human rights. She is known to be critical of BJP government’s anti- minority policies. She has friends among the activist lawyers who are critical of Modi government.
With Harris in place, it should not be easy going for India in American establishment. (IPA Service)
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