Who won the presidential debate last night? Well, that depends upon your already existing beliefs about the candidates. However, “flash polls” after the debate reported about two thirds of voters say Vice President Kamala Harris won the over all debate. Certainly it is clear Kamala Harris did not disappoint her supporters by way of demeanor and content of what she had to say.

Republicans are conceding this was not Trump’s best performance as well. But, Trump and his Republican supporters are complaining loudly about the moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis for correcting Trump for his false claims by their interjecting with fact checks four times while not correcting Harris. Immediately after the debate Trump angerly complained he had three against him – Harris and the two moderators. I too, have a major complaint about the job the moderators did as well, but it’s not for pointing out Trumps outrageous lies and factual misrepresentations.  It’s because the moderators totally failed to enforce the agreed debate rules. The candidates and moderators agreed the rules of debate included: (1) The candidates had  two minutes to answer questions (2) two minutes for rebuttals and (3) an additional minute for follow-ups and clarifications. A large timer was on display for the candidates and moderator as a reminder of the time rules. Most important, to be able to enforce the time limit rules and prevent interruptions, it was specified “microphones will be muted throughout the proceedings except when it is the candidate’s turn to speak.”

The reality was the time limits were not enforced. The reality was the order of   sequence rule was ignored by the moderators. The moderators allowed Trump to often go on a uncontrolled rant contrary to the rules without interrupting him or stopping him by simply turning off his microphone as a control enforcement. The was a total failure to simply turn the microphone turn off and  enforce the agreed rules. The moderators didn’t even attempt to use any other method to control these outbursts.

Good trial lawyers encounter out of control expert witnesses frequently in their trials. Knowing how to deal with evasive, non-responsive expert witnesses who ignore the question and make a speech instead, is part of our skill set. Moderators for a political debate ought to have the same abilities. Instead, these two moderators made no effort to enforce the agreed rules for the debate. In the end, Trump logged 43 minutes of time talking, while Harris had 37 minutes. The agreed rules were not enforced by the moderators.

As to the debate, Vice-President Harris, went on the offensive from the outset, goading her Republican rival and assailing him over his criminal trials and his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. In response, Trump, while measured early on, grew more annoyed as the night went on. Trump didn’t answer questions directly He declined to say if he wanted Ukraine to win against Russia, wouldn’t answer if he had any regrets about his response to the violence on Jan. 6 and he twice refused to say if he would veto a national abortion ban, like his vice-presidential running mate said he would.

He repeated the biggest lies from his campaign. Trump’s lies, meandering, conspiracies and often general incoherence was even more glaring. Trump was often out of control. He loudly and repeatedly insisted that a whole host of falsehoods were true. The former president repeated lies about widespread fraud in the 2020 election. Trump went on a tangent by citing a debunked conspiracy theory about some migrants’ eating pets. “They’re eating the dogs, these people that came in, they’re eating the cats,” he said. Trump, again, deferred to a different conspiracy theory that the FBI is deeply corrupt and issuing “defrauding statements.” He argued “it was a fraud.” His most shameful lie was possibly when he was asked about the riot at the Capital on January 6, 2021. In spite of the video proof to the contrary he claimed: “I had nothing to do with that other than they asked me to make a speech.” And, he once again insisted he had not lost the election with Biden in spite of his claims of voter fraud being repeatedly rejected the numerous courts and overwhelming evidence that debunks his claims. His meandering, unfocused harangues gave a general impression of a delusional out of control person willing to make any claim or excuse to achieve his objective.

Harris delivered a consistently confident and composed performance. Harris delivered a confident showing, baiting and sparring with Trump over abortion, race, the economy and more. While Trump was visibly rattled during much of the debate.