Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - "It wasn't a knockout. That's what Donald Trump did to Joe Biden on June 27. But it certainly was a unanimous decision for Kamala Harris. She was better prepared and more poised."
Republican Strategist Carl Calabrese told WBEN on Wednesday he believes Vice President Harris had a very good debate on Tuesday night.
On the other side, Democratic Political Consultant Bruce Fisher, with StrategyCorp, said Harris' job was to introduce herself and display her temperamental fitness. Trump's job, on the other hand, was to control himself and not take the bait and veer off into crazy talk about roasting cats.
"Harris succeeded. Trump did not," Fisher said with WBEN.
Calabrese called it a night of missed opportunities for Trump.
"He should have been calling her the Border Czar all night. He should have tied her to Bidenomics and the Afghanistan withdrawal. He missed some golden opportunities," he said.
Calabrese adds that Trump's style is more suited for a rally than a formal debate.
"He tends to wander. He gets angry. Harris baited him many times, and he took the bait more than he should have," Calabrese said. "It lends itself to a poor performance."
In the end, Calabrese gives Trump a C grade, while giving Harris a B+.
Fisher says a friend of his, who is a veteran of coaching political candidates,
texted him and said "Trump looked like the kind of candidate who said to his staff, 'I don't really need to prepare for this, I got this. I'm just going to do what I know how to do, and I'll dominate.'"
The big question, noted Fisher, is did Harris grow her support in swing states, where polling is tight? Time will tell.
Fisher also added that Harris needed to be sane and confident.
"And she did something that is very difficult for women to do. It's very difficult for mature women to be assertive without being characterized the next day as being nasty. She acted like a prosecutor. It was great training. It's why she is widely regarded as having won the debate," Fisher said.