This is How Kamala Won the Debate | A.B. & Bill's Take

hi everyone AB Stoddard with the bull workk I'm back with Bill Crystal editor at large and co-author of morning shots and um an allaround terrific guy and my good friend and we are pumped today we were last together a week ago talking about how short this little meeting would be if the debate was terrible and we were nervous as all get out I blabbed all night on our live stream about it bill so I'm going to ask you what your reaction is yeah well great to be with you AB it's and it's a good morning I I uh yeah I I would say like the sigh of relief that you can hear across the country is coming from you and Maryland me and Northern Virginia but actually that's more than a side of relief really that is a reasonable reaction sometimes to political events and like you dodged a bullet and did what you had to do to get by but she did a lot more than that and I I was wrong a little bit about what her strategy should be I think and and how well she could pull it off I was more in the you got to speak to the American public she did that well and you know lay out some of the plans F and reintroduce yourself she did that pretty well I think that's the one thing she probably will have to do a little more of in the next few weeks uh but but the I was dubious that she could just get under his skin and and provoke him without getting into sort of you know Pig wrestling match with him so to speak it's a little unfair to the pigs but you know what I mean the mud wrestling match and uh and hurt herself but she was very deaf at the getting under his skin side of things without you know taking too much time from her own explanation of things I thought thought the the instance and I think Andre Egger mentioned this in morning shots what was the first set of questions was the economy a couple of questions then abortion so one good for Trump presumbly then one very good for her she did very well on the abortion rights issue and then immigration so another one for Trump so all the cons magga World bleeding about how ABC was unfair or something two of the first three questions were absolutely Trump's top issues you know and and and so I don't think that was that was good for Trump and she gave a good answer on immigration she went first the United States Congress including some of the most conservative members of the United States Senate came up with a border security bill which I supported and that bill would have put 1,500 more border agents On the Border to help those folks who are working there right now over time trying to do their job it would have allowed us to stem the flow of fentanyl coming into the United States I know there's so many families watching tonight who have been personally affected by The Surge of fentol in our country that bill would have put more resources to allow us to prosecute transnational criminal organizations for trafficking in guns drugs and human beings but you know what happened to that bill Donald Trump got on the phone called up some folks in Congress and said kill the bill and you know why because he'd prefer to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem sort of playing defense but you know I was for this bipartisan Bill in Congress and Trump blew it up and she explained it actually I thought pretty well not so it's kind of complicated to explain but she kind of made clear what she was talking about and then she sort of out of the blue honestly just inserted incidentally it's really amazing Trump's Crowds Are just uh or his crowds she said it to him maybe she said your crowd she looked at him a lot and said you a lot actually right are just they're not what they once were and the people leave early and he's you really Lo he's really lost the kind of his uh his Pizzazz I how she put it or something like that and I'm going to actually do something really unusual and I'm going to invite you to attend one of Donald Trump's rallies cuz it's a really interesting thing to watch you will see during the course of his rallies he talks about fictional characters like cannable Lector he will talk about windmills cause cancer and what you will also notice is that people start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom and I will tell you the one thing you will not hear him talk about is you and it really was kind of ridic it was it was gratuitous was it had nothing to do with it particular it wasn't even she didn't pretend to link immigration she obviously just wanted to get this into an early answer uh and he couldn't resist this was his he could have he had 120 seconds to really go after on immigration and she hadn't really addressed the borders Zar question she hadn't really defended Biden's policies why didn't you do this stuff three and a half years ago which I think David M might have asked and he could have just you know I think he could have done some damage on that then there would have been a followup and he could have kept going and instead he took what I'd say more than half his two minutes uh said claiming that his crowds were great and never been better and first let me respond is to the rallies she said people start leaving people don't go to her rallies there's no reason to go and the people that do go she's busting them in and paying them to be there and then showing them in a different light so she can't talk about that people don't leave my rallies we have the biggest rallies the most incredible rallies there just one example of how defly with really one sentence you know 10 seconds of her time done in a nice way well nice isn't quite the word but you know unobtrusive way maybe that's where the you know provoked what 60 80 90 seconds of him uh going out at the CR and then he was so rattled or so worked up that for the rest of the immigration answer it wasn't actually about the Border it was about the the cats being eaten in uh in uh in Springfield Ohio in Springfield they're eating the dogs the people that came in they're eating the cats they're eating they're eating the pets of the people that live there and this is what's happening in our country I've seen people on television let say here this is the people on television say my dog was taken and used for food so maybe he said that and maybe that's a good thing to say for a city manager I'm not taking this from telion telion dog was eaten by the people that went there totally blew his biggest you know what I would say would be a chance to get the debate off in a pretty good way for him and after that you just went from strength to strength what did what did you think yeah I thought um obviously that was planned and well planned but it wasn't it was pretty elegant I thought because she said I'm going to invite you to I'm going to do something you know unusual I'm going to invite you to Trump rally uh I'll tell you what he does there he complains he talks about grievances he talks about himself and and the crowds they get tired they're bored and they're exhausted and they start to leave and then she says you know what he doesn't do he doesn't talk about you yeah and that was just I'm sorry that was just genius and and it was a way obviously to divert him and it was completely successful but um in addition to I said this last night and I want to make the point again I mean in addition to the fact that she had so many things she had to do okay it was it this debate was about kamla Harris it was not about Donald Trump everyone goes in and says if he just shows up like a sentient being and I thought he knew the first 30 minutes is the trip I thought he would be nice I thought he might smile at her I thought he might call her the vice president I thought he would just try to to be normal for 30 minutes knowing that's really all he had to do she had to play Perfect Defense she had to uh Counterattack she had to attack she had a fact check she had to introduce herself to the public who didn't follow the convention doesn't know what she stands for a critical Gap she has to make up in swing states she had so many tasks Bill and she had a plan and she prepared preped and she executed and she came off like a real person and I thought I mean she has had some canned moments and debates in the past that really were clunky none of that there but she put in the work credit to kamla Harris for working her ass off to put in the work and they're complaining about the moderators you know what a If he if if she tried to steal an election she would have been asked about that too but B she was asked about Israel she was asked about the Border she was asked about her domestic position flipflops she was asked about all the I mean she was ready right all the things that would have been like you know a bad moment where she could have gotten flustered or been unprepared she was ready and and she exuded confidence and competence and capability and so it's hilarious to watch them moan and groan that he was asked tough fact checks on his lies or that she got softball questions she was asked every hard issue that was going to be tough for her and she was prepared and I just I've never seen anything like it is the way that I feel I mean you know Hillary Clinton I believe won those debates Bill she's very comfortable in policy she really likes it she's very substantive and she gets she was you know very fluent and comfortable talking about that stuff in 2016 but she's not charming and she didn't really have a strategy the way that Harris did and it was I thought it was just stunning and very well executed I really want to emphasize that having been a little bit close to a couple of these debates over time I mean it's one thing to have your team come up with or you work with them and you come up with a few good lines but they do sometimes seem clunky when delivered or you don't have a chance to deliver them where you sort of half don't remember you don't have any notes you're there for 90 minutes huge pressure you got to remember 18 different 180 different things but a couple other times she very defly delivered were clearly prepared lines but didn't come out as terribly canned or prepared I thought the introducing John McCain is a special warm spot for me obviously a few I me too I will never forget the early morning hours when it was up for a vote in the United States Senate and the late great John McCain who you have disparaged as being a you don't like him you said at the time because he got caught he was an American hero the L great John McCain I will never forget that night walked onto the senate floor and said no you don't no you don't no you don't get rid of the Affordable Care Act you have no plan and what the Affordable Care Act has done is eliminate the ability of insurance companies to deny people with pre-existing conditions in the context of Obamacare and the health care bill not in the context of foreign policy particularly and reminiscing since she was a Senator then when he came to the floor already ill uh from the cancer that would kill him and uh did the famous thumbs down on uh on repeal of Obamacare partial repeal of Obamacare um she told the story nicely people don't remember that necessarily so she had to sort explain it but in took in telling it she called in the late great John McCain and she didn't passing and did it as I say not without making a big deal of it but if you were you know a Republican or independent who liked McCain suddenly it was like gee k Harris really respects and likes John McCain that's I mean so it's almost beyond the substance of the healthc Care vote and more of an appeal uh to McCain supporters as she also obviously invoked invoked Cheney um so she was very and then the other thing I thought that was very deafly done clearly intended was she used she was waiting for the moment and Trump said something I can't remember attacking the Biden Harris Administration associating Harris with Biden very much and she said uh you know I'm not Joe Biden clearly I am not Joe Biden and I am certainly not Donald Trump and what I do offer is a new generation of leadership for our country and then she added uh to take the edge off in the sense of course I'm not at all Donald Trump or something like that and then she went on to attack Trump basically but she got that sentence out I'm not Joe Biden which is so important I think as part of her broader strategy and effort to make sure that she was not most mostly running as Joe Biden's vice president but as a new phase with a fresh uh agenda for the future and so forth so again both cases she did it deafly I thought and so the execution matters and and as you say that was she practiced a lot I gather they did three full-scale debates uh Philipe Reigns did a uh played Trump and apparently was very aggressive and and really didn't sometimes I found this problem when I was in government you know in politics you it's hard to really be nasty to your boss you know or to the vice president of the United States in this case and you know play Trump properly apparently a lot of what Trump he sort of anticipated they anticipated a lot of uh the way Trump would behave and so she wasn't surprised or rattled when Trump uh behaved the way he he was and she was able to you know deliver these lines so well so she's a better candidate than I think than I expected her to be considerably better as you as you said it is really hard to remember all your plans cuz you you're just thinking of so many things right the things that I described Counterattack attack Counterattack fact check defend I mean it's just it's it's a lot and then fill in you know talking to the voters you you and she did that so well everything about last night from her was it was so intentional like everything that it was such a an intricate plan and the execution was so Flawless and what I loved look a lot of people said a lot of democrat said don't get into the mud with him because then you'll be a pig don't get down with him and that decision right of of that's a straddle she had to go there but I loved that she was so tough without coming off a smug she said they can manipulate you I mean she went at him yeah she went at him an apple bomb tweeted it today saying she landed in Warsaw and this is like flying across Europe very popular sound bite why don't you tell the 800,000 polish Americans right here in Pennsylvania how quickly you would give up Ukraine because he never said that he wanted Ukraine to win and why don't you tell the 800,000 polish Americans right here in Pennsylvania how quickly you would give up for the sake of favor and what you think is a friendship with what is known to be a dictator who would eat you for lunch they planned and wrap together a Polish American voter in Pennsylvania Putin punch and landed it perfectly that's that's this is some Artful stuff in my opinion no I totally agree so yeah it was good it was a really high class high quality performance and it and one of aspect of high quality fors people are separating it well she did pretty well and he did awfully and I myself so that was my initial kind of thing but when you think about it for a minut it one reason he did awfully is that she helped Rog him to do awfully so I think you have to upgrade her from doing pretty well to doing really quite well because to do that and land most of what you want to land on your own behalf that would be the one thing I think she still has to do is some of the economic message the middle class message answering in more detail in a way and more some of the where she is now on the issues where she was on the left in 2019 that can be done in speeches I think that can be done subsequently and and she can lay it out and sort of check that box it's more of a media concern maybe than voter concern I think in some ways but you do the media will H will nag her on that until she has a slightly longer explanation of why she changed her mind on fracking and why she you know what she meant when she said certain things in 2019 but I think again that can be done in a speech and uh and in a way put to bed that was anyway so yeah very impressive so let's talk about what's next what do you I mean what should we start worrying about they raised $2 million every 10 minutes last night I mean she fired up a lot of people and Sarah longwell's focus groups this morning show that people think she want the debate and that the complaints about the moderators don't fly with undecided so it's really looking good for the small Universe of people that she is trying to convince I think you're right she needs to fill in more policy stuff because you you really can't that requires so much repetition right Joe Biden's record of accomplishments is still largely unknown to the average American because he could not sell them yeah so when you think about her task this month and next what do what do you recommend so yeah I mean one question I had is you know she could win the debate but not change many voters minds and there's a small Universe of Voters as you say but it does seem I I talked to someone who has seen the results of a focus group several focus groups done by a big big big Democratic Super PAC with dials and the whole thing about what they liked and didn't like and the good news on that is they they they liked a lot of what Harris did Trump still had some Edge on the economy and on being strong she didn't just wipe that out in one evening but the edge wasn't as great as it had been and when asked who you're now inclined to vote for these are undecided or very soft Harris Trump supporters uh they moved to something like 45 to 20 uh 45% moved uh were for Harris now they've been evenly spook before 20% for Trump still 30% undecided so it's not we're not talking like 80% of those voters so it but if she could do that if she could win two or 3 to one of the voters who were in play obviously she's in very good shape though that will still only put her up three or points or four points it's not going to put her up 10 so people need to have expectations under control but I'm very curious to see and I would really want to see some movement uh on voters ballot intentions voting intentions not just gee I like that debate but there there been times when people like debate performances it didn't really change much about the way people would would vote they just didn't care because they voting for for other reasons that have nothing to do with someone's you making a clever point or or getting seeming a little irritable so I think that's one point I would say um yeah she needs so one two I think she can Coast on this Coast isn't quite the right word she can ride this way for a while it's a very big debate I it's got to been viewed I don't know if we know the numbers yet but what do you think 50 60 70 million people yeah I don't know them either but it's it's it's also I'm sure it was well watched but it will travel further than most debates do in terms of the clips totally and twice as many so probably just in pure viewership twice as many as the convention speech so and that was pretty big so this really but I agree then the clips and all that so I would continue to you know use that for as much as long as possible honestly I don't think you want to step on your own momentum as it were right uh and then I think you know you had a good piece about how you really need to be out there uh before the debate I guess I'd say the way in which she should be out there I'm not so sure she should be giving a million interviews though like that that's risky then you get one clunky answer to a question suddenly that's the story and it's well she had an interview with Caitlyn Collins she didn't do a good job on this question who needs that honestly she she gives some I would say gives some speeches you control the speeches you take some questions you do it you're foreign policy speech at Georgetown your economic policy speech at the Detroit economic Club you you fill in some of the gaps you do it exactly in the terms you want but then you're accessible you talk about it afterwards I think just doing the interviews without that leaves you a little exposed you haven't L the predicate away this is something that normally candidates do in the primary season but she didn't have a primary season which is both an advantage of hers obviously but also in this respect to disadvantage uh I just did this conversation with carille that'll be out tomorrow a conversation with Bill Crystal thing and um we were sort of talking about this and this is I'm stealing his mostly his ideas here but one thing he mentioned or maybe I dedic is that so a week from now I think it's a week from today I guess uh the fed's going to cut interest rates and there is evidence that the people's economic sense is a little better that it was inflation's down they feel a little better about things not a bad time to give your a big economic policy speech at you know Chicago or Detroit I guess not Chicago it's not a swing state but whatever the Detroit economic club or or Pittsburgh or someplace um you know maybe on the 19th or 20th or next week and you know I mean there was I think she she which again would sort of carry some of the themes forward from the debate but also deepen the economic middle class message the forward-looking message little more Liberation from being Harris Biden to Biden to Harris's sorry from being Biden Harris to Harris's own Vision so I that I guess would be my sense I I don't know that she needs to be frantic at all but she she uh as I say riding this wave as long as you can would be a good idea and then we get the October 1 debate with Vance I don't know do you think there will be a second debate doesn't sound like Trump wants it but I don't know if he's behind doesn't he have to and and she can't really say no I suppose right right I I'm kind of thinking there might be I don't oh no she apparently her campaign last night asked for another one yeah but they won't do fox they'll be there'll be there'll be a lot of debate about the debates which I think is a good thing for this simple reason debate about the debates which is normally boring and only interesting to insiders like us debate about the debates will remind everyone about the last debate you know if the word debate is used a lot in the campaign for the next three or four weeks that's a good thing so I kind of think that takes you a little bit you know for for weeks not days in a sense the combination of uh riding the wave of this debate debating whether there'll be a next debate a speech or two to follow up on themes in this debate and uh I I think that's I think she's that could put her in pretty good shape I think so my recommendation about her going out and doing a media blitz is not that she wouldn't be doing rallies and speeches in I'm assuming she's going to be doing that every other day I just meant it is time for her to face I mean jump on podcasts call into local radio in rural areas what just pop up in weird places and seem like you're accessible and keep answering those questions about the child tax credit and the small business deductions and all the stuff she's trying to get across because it requires repetition and it she needs to look like she's she trusts her St and she's accessible that she's not hiding to the very few people that we're talking about that are still undecided and I do believe that after last week being holed up in Pittsburgh in a hotel and delivering what what she did last night she's ready for those interviews you divert the question you say you know what you you use Donald Trump's filibuster techniques I mean you just you don't in the end she can be in control and she can say you know what really matters to me Rachel you know you you just you answer some and then you and then you you answer what you want to answer and I think that she's ready I mean that she's prepared so much for every single obstacle in term like you know in terms of gotcha questions policy liabil ities whatever it is you know she's ready for the question about Joe Biden's cognitive you know State whatever she's ready so I I just think it's time for her to kind of be out there and be more familiar um for the remaining people who are undecided after last night and I'm with you ride the wave I just figured that she'd be at all those rallies with the big crowds anyway and that if if you stop and you talk to the reporters on the way out there was an interesting moment with NB the night that she left her convention speech and she was in the tunnel you know the the wherever you when you exit when you're in an arena when you're at one of those back halls and it was Peter Alexander from NBC and and she and she said hey and they were like oh congratulations she literally had just given the speech and you could tell she was thinking about the debate she goes they were like oh how did it go she goes good but it's we're on to the next thing what do it feel like in that moment it felt good it felt good I mean listen we've got 75 days AG go so that was good and now we got to move on and she would had already started preparing for the debate so it was just she was willing to stop take a question I think th those are other opportunities you have to be a sit down interview with with Caitlyn Collins right it can be a little here a little there but you get it out in the media and you just show that you're answering questions that you're confident in your answers and I think that he's going to be everywhere and he's going to create a scene in the next few days to try to divert away from from the debate debacle and you know I don't want any more where's kamla I want her out there confident competent capable like she was last night and I think she I think she's ready for those interviews now I'm a little I'd be a tick more cautious on the interviews still and I think I think the we's com stuff is just a media story and doesn't go anywhere and she can do it they'll be they have enough money to do an unbelievable amount of paid advertising obviously that will answer some of these questions as well so but I don't disagree I mean I agree some of the informal stuff the local radio the CH chatting when she hugged that woman and that store whatever it was in Pittsburgh a it's going to be good we're going to be good we're going to be fine we're going to be fine we are all in this together yes we are we're going to be fine yes we are yes we are so H did you get some spices I think the advantage of the formal speeches which again people don't watch them exactly and and they're they're kind of for the media but they do give you know something for people to write the op EDS about and Noah can say she doesn't hasn't worked out her proposal on the child tax credit on the one hand or something like teris is Terrace is complicated and I think she did a pretty good job criticizing that last night but I don't know that it actually clicked I mean I think the Trump sales text is not is a too clever by half formulation no one even understands what she's talking about when she says that I think I think you do need to actually lay out what how damaging terorists would be and try to take the edge again off Trump on the economic issue where he still as an edge I think is having you know have presided over a good economy and being a businessman and all that stuff so again I think this can be done in a very tactical and pretty uh targeted way in a whole bunch of different issues um not just economics but other issues as well the other thing I would say is I do think also that you do want to capitalize on your best issues and I I think listening last night I don't know what you thought dos row Reproductive Rights I mean that stuff is very powerful and she was strong on it and is just flustered on it and they are nervous they can't answer they don't want to say he will veto such a a bill if they Republican if there's a Republican president Republican Congress they pass a national you know anti- choice pro-life bill would he veto it and he won't say and Vance is in a slightly different position than Trump is and Trump kind of threw Vance under the bus you know last night but if I could just get a yes or no because your running mate J JD Vance has said that you would veto if you did come to your desk well I didn't discuss it with with JD in all fairness uh JD and I I don't mind if he has a certain view but I think he was speaking for me but I really didn't that's maybe more of a paid advertising thing but I think really capitalizing on these on the positive issues is very important too yeah it's really important to get for the people who didn't see the debate to make sure that Americans know that he refused to say he would veto a National Abortion ban he refused to say he wanted Ukraine to Win It is well known that he said of Putin that he can do whatever the hell he wants and go into Ukraine it is well known that he said when Russia went into Ukraine it was brilliant it is well known he exchanged love letters with Kim Jong Un and it is absolutely welln that these dictators and autocrats are rooting for you to be president again because they're so clear they can manipulate you with flattery and favors and that is why so many military leaders who you have worked with have told me you are a disgrace do you want Ukraine to win this War I want the war to stop I want to save lives that are being uselessly people being killed by the millions it's the millions it's so much worse than the numbers that you're getting which are fake numbers time is up with just to clarify in the question do you believe it's in the US best best interest for Ukraine to win this war yes or no I think it's the US best interest to get this war finished and just get it done all right she backed him in just two very significant Corners it was really remarkable that's a war that's dying to be settled I mean he was just it was so clear um that he he just wants to end it end it he you know it was so clear he would give give so much up to Putin it was it was really painful to listen to and so I agree that they have to sort of today they're tired they have to sort of right like reset and regroup and think what what are we going to ride from this and the abortion obviously is is it but so was the Ukraine stuff I mean it was very um it was very telling and also just how out of it he was I mean there I'm sorry there are tons of at times he was deeply deeply incoherent and there's just tons of sound of hims you know when he brought up the the Haitian immigrants the conspiracy about them eating pets in Springfield Ohio he said I saw it on television I mean he didn't see it on television it wasn't on television or he saw someone in Fox talking about it but it wasn't true I mean he was such a he was such a lunatic and I think they I'm sorry that's what travels and night the reason I bring up the interviews is that a I think if she gives a clunker it just is washed out in the media cycle you just give a good one the next day or Trump says something crazy and everyone moves on but I feel like the interviews travel further to people who don't follow politics and I wonder how much they're getting the rally speech clips that type of thing about policy um but I I I really want to emphasize and you guys wrote about this in morning shots today I mean he was he he he not only just he didn't put in the work and he he was he gave a bad debate but he he he really like stepped on multiple rakes and and then ate them it was it was painful to watch and it should be exploited Hillary defeated him as you say in the actual debate debate in 2016 especially the first one though he may have defeated her in Optics and all that and bullying and so forth and and she didn't quite she sort of was too much of a policy Wonka I don't know of I'm with you kind of thing uh you're with her that was their the disastrous campaign slogan I remember at the Republican convention in 2016 when Trump turned that against her you know she says you're with her I say I'm with you I mean it was such an unbelievable mistake of Hillary people to go in that you know be with her Direction uh Harris has internalized that that was a mistake and isn't going Direction but you know one point Carville made again this will be up in 24 hours but uh is calendar matters so much in campaigns and I discussing the FED briefly but just thinking about the abortion issue I mean we have a supreme court ter beginning when is it usually the first week or second week of October right and so you know there's your Supreme Court speech to give right and remind people which you know how fundamentally important it is that not just the appointments Trump made in his first term but whether Trump or Harris makes four years worth of Supreme Court and lower court appointments in the next four years in terms of a million issues including other aspects of Reproductive Rights and Freedoms so um you know I just think you sort of think about the calendar there are pretty good occasions for her to hit a lot of these big issues and do so at a a combination of speeches and interviews and so forth uh and then if there's a second debate I guess the October 1 the VP debate which I suppose will happen will be October 1st that'll be some interest I think because Vance is such a odd character oh definitely don't you think a little more the usual interest I think and then I wonder if I don't know I really don't know even what I whether I want there to be another debate or not it seems like she's done so well in this one maybe what and done was would be good but be hard to avoid it if Trump sort of says yes and it's not you know so ridiculous only if it's moderated by you know Tucker Carlson or something so um I guess we could get one more in October and that will be another chance for us to get nervous again but for now for now I slept I slept well last night I want to report that I know for now we can we can count on Trump to you know try to get the Republicans shut the government down and and we'll probably have a good next 10 days but I um or two weeks but but I'm with you um he did say this morning only the loser calls for the next debate that was interesting that he said that for him to revert now would be interesting but Hillary is a reminder Bill we're gon to stay nervous she I think won three debates and after Access Hollywood still lost to Donald Trump so let's stay nervous um thank you Bill everyone thank you for joining uh us today and make sure to stay on the bullworks YouTube channel where we have stuff all day long in this very exciting time thank you so much and we will see you next time