Grumbling, groans, laughter and cheers punctuated a presidential debate watch party at the headquarters of the Democratic Party of Santa Fe County as Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump traded barbs Tuesday night.
“Do we have indigestion pills for such events?” the Rev. Gary Kowalski asked aloud before the two candidates offered their closing statements after a nearly two-hour debate.
“Donald Trump gives me a stomachache, so I thought indigestion pills would be a good medicinal for this evening’s event,” he said afterward.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Harris surrogate who traveled to Philadelphia to watch the debate, said Harris delivered a “spectacular” debate performance.
“She was strong. She was clear. She demonstrated that she is, in fact, working for all of us,” Lujan Grisham said in a telephone interview Tuesday night. “She’ll be a president to unite us. She had presidential temperament, a command of a multitude of issues and was able to speak directly to the kinds of investments that make a difference [for] working-class Americans.”
At the watch party on Cerrillos Road, local Democrats appeared particularly incensed by some of Trump’s remarks, including the assertion Democrats allow “abortion in the ninth month,” that Harris “wants to do transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison” or that immigrants in Ohio are eating dogs and cats.
Kevin Klix said during the first commercial break he didn’t know which candidate was winning, but he was glad Harris was standing up to what he called Trump’s lies.
“He’s scoring points with his side, and I’m in a room where people are just groaning as he says these things [asserting] Kamala Harris is responsible for everything going wrong in America,” said Klix, 65.
While New Mexico Democrats said Harris clearly laid out her vision for the future and effectively portrayed Trump as a threat to democracy, Republicans said Trump won, highlighting the economic and other issues that have plagued Americans under the Biden-Harris administration.
Republican Party of New Mexico Chair Steve Pearce said in a statement New Mexicans wanted to know which candidate would make their groceries cheaper, their border secure and their communities safe. While both candidates executed their points well, the election will come down to whether “voters believe the utopia Kamala Harris is selling them or what they see,” he said.
“Trump is in a stronger position through his policies to stabilize the economy, get wages up, and get costs down,” Pearce said. “On the other hand, Harris avoided addressing important questions about the economy and dodged the critical question of why Americans feel they are worse off than before the past three and a half years of her administration.”
Tuesday’s presidential debate, held in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, is the first and possibly only such showdown between Harris and Trump ahead of the November election. Only one other debate is scheduled before the election: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Harris and Trump’s running mates, respectively, are set to square off during a vice presidential debate on Oct. 1 in New York City.
U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury said in a statement that Harris “showed that she will be a president for all Americans and will lead with respect, grace, and dignity and has a plan to support our communities.
“While Donald Trump lied, was incoherent, once again refused to say if he would pass a national abortion ban, refused to concede the 2020 election and lied about January 6th,” Stansbury said.
House Speaker Javier Martínez said Harris demonstrated why she’s the most qualified person to lead the nation.
“The people of New Mexico and the people of the United States deserve a leader who will fight to make life better for our families, who will protect our freedoms and who has a plan for the future of our country — not one who is focused on petty personal grievances and wants to take us backwards,” Martínez, D-Albuquerque, said in a statement.
Senate Minority Leader Greg Baca, R-Belen, said in a statement Trump delivered a vision to reform the country “to its former greatness” while Harris “was unable to explain the failures of the past [three and a half years] and instead denied, deflected and distracted.”
Baca urged New Mexicans to vote Republican up and down the ballot. Every statewide office in the state is held by a Democrat, and both chambers of the Legislature are controlled by Democrats.
“Unfortunately for New Mexico, no presidential administration has been able to undo the damage that 100 years of Democrat rule in New Mexico has done,” Baca said. “Voting to take New Mexico in a new direction starts by changing leadership at the local level.”
Lujan Grisham, who was asked to be vetted as a potential vice presidential pick for Harris, appeared on The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer on CNN to stump for Harris the night before.
“The debate’s critical, and I’m expecting her to be exactly who she is: thoughtful, well prepared,” the governor told Blitzer. “She knows these policies. She’s been executing on them and is a very effective leader, but she’s been doing it for the last two months, hitting the campaign trail hard, reintroducing herself. People want it to be personal.”
In the telephone interview with The New Mexican, Lujan Grisham said she found it “inexplicable” that one poll found Trump to be more moderate than Harris.
“Since when do we think it’s OK to overthrow the government, lie about the election?” she asked. “I think Americans got to see exactly, again, with real clarity who [Trump] really is, and [Harris] held him right there. She was powerful, convincing and effective and reminded us effectively about what’s at stake here and just how dangerous he is.”
