The US presidential debate was a degenerate political show, and Harris won

In a political culture where rational arguments hardly get you anywhere, what’s the value of a rhetorical square-off?

The outcome of American presidential elections rarely turns on the performance of candidates in televised debates – Kennedy’s victory over Nixon in 1960, and Bush’s win over Dukakis in 1988 were very much the exceptions that prove the general rule. 

Equally exceptional was Joe Biden’s disastrous campaign – ending with...