Kamala Harris was the clear winner of Tuesday night’s presidential debate, according to our advance poll of independent voters, who declared her the most aggressive presidential candidate and Donald Trump the most aggressive.
About 49 percent said Harris performed better, while 43 percent said Trump came out on top.
However, the online poll of 800 independent voters suggested the 90-minute debate may not have changed many minds.
Harris added just two points to her overall support. While 36 percent said they planned to vote for Harris before the debate, the figure was 38 percent after the televised showdown.
And Trump’s vote share rose from 44 percent to 45 percent, even as Harris and her supporters proclaimed victory.
The poll was conducted online by JL Partners on the afternoon of Tuesday, September 10, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percent.
The two candidates first met at the ABC News debate in Philadelphia. They spent more than an hour and a half arguing about abortion, the economy and foreign policy.
Harris came with a plan to discourage Trump, and she seemed to succeed. She generated the most viral moment of the night when she ridiculed Trump’s campaign rallies, saying people left early out of “exhaustion and boredom.”
He defended what he called the “most incredible demonstrations in the history of politics” before going on to repeat an extraordinary online rumour about immigrants eating pets.
“That’s extreme,” Harris said, laughing.
Trump again refused to acknowledge his 2020 election loss and at times raised his voice while launching personal attacks against Harris.
The result was that in our poll, independent viewers said she looked more presidential, beating out Trump by 49 percent to 43 percent.
And he was seen as the most aggressive by far, with 64 points to 25.
Yet he performed just as well on some of his key issues as he did in June, when he left President Joe Biden baffled.
Viewers thought she did better on the economy, border, foreign affairs and Israel, and tied with Harris on taxes. She won on abortion, health care and democracy.
Our panel of independent voters declared Vice President Kamala Harris the best performer of the night, calling her more presidential than Donald Trump.
The debate had only a slight influence on voting intention.
It was his temperament and style that let him down. Onlookers said Harris seemed more competent, mentally astute, attentive to detail, more genuine, more cheerful and the candidate who most represented change.
Trump was considered the weakest and the most annoying, but also the funniest.
James Johnson, co-founder of JL Partners who conducted the poll, said independents hold the keys to the White House and gave Harris the win that night.
But it could still take time for this to filter through into the main poll numbers as both sides try to spin the night in their favor and control the media narrative.
“It was not a knockout blow. Polls suggest his performance left Americans in the dark about the substance of his plans,” Johnson said.
‘And on issues, Trump led in the same areas he did with Biden in June, such as the economy, foreign affairs and the border.
“But she made all her arguments, embarrassed Trump and steered the issue away from his weakest areas.”
Viewers thought Trump won on the key issues of the economy and the border.
Harris saw a small increase in favorability while Trump’s numbers remained virtually unchanged
In particular, he was able to portray Trump as aggressive and rude, he added.
“For all their support for Trump on these issues, independents are resistant to his temperament,” Johnson said.
‘We’ll have to wait for the next polls to see what effect this has had electorally and to determine whether this is already factored into voters’ opinions of Trump or not.’
Both sides deployed representatives to proclaim their victory in the press room packed with journalists afterwards.
“It was the best debate I’ve ever had,” Trump said.
The evening began with a handshake as Harris addressed Trump’s lectern, but the debate quickly devolved into personal attacks and accusations of lying.
Biden gave his verdict after the debate and declared Harris the winner
Harris’s campaign quickly called for a second debate as a show of confidence.
“Under the bright lights, the American people got to see the choice they will face at the ballot box this fall: whether to move forward with Kamala Harris or back with Trump,” said Jen O’Malley Dillon, campaign manager.
The clash posed a great risk for both sides.
Trump has struggled to find momentum since Harris entered the race, but the Democratic nominee has also seen her honeymoon, with huge fundraising numbers, fade over the past week.
The result is a razor-edge choice.
The DailyMail.com/JL Partners election model gives Trump a slim lead, with a 55 percent chance of victory.