Donald Trump was his own worst enemy in this debate

‘So I think you’ve heard tonight two very different visions for our country,’ Vice President Kamala Harris insisted in her closing remarks at last night’s presidential debate. Viewers, I suspect, may disagree. This was not a debate where we learned anything new. There was no great ‘vision’ put forward by Harris or Donald Trump. Public policy was barely touched upon. If what the candidates discussed in terms of specific plans is really their great vision for the United States – distorting the housing market, jacking up prices on consumers – then Americans should be very worried indeed. For a country facing a myriad of economic and existential problems, nothing mentioned by the former President or the Vice President could be described as a comprehensive solution.

But that wasn’t the purpose of tonight’s debate. Each candidate had one, albeit tricky job to do: Trump needed to stay calm and Harris needed to make herself look more moderate, having promoted some of the most left-wing views of any Democratic Senator only five years ago.