Kamala Harris’ Condescending Facial Expressions Backfired, Say Undecided Voters

While many predict that the Vice Presidential debate might not move the needle a lot, every vote matters!

This is especially true in such a hot race.

CNBC confirms that the focus group found that most undecided voters preferred Mike Pence, and therefore President Trump!

GOP pollster Frank Luntz told CNBC on Thursday that his 15-person focus group of undecided voters felt Vice President Mike Pence performed better than Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris in the vice presidential debate.

“All but two of them felt that Mike Pence won the debate,” Luntz said on “Squawk Box.” “I’m willing to go out on a limb and say that he did, and he did not because of what he talked about, but how he communicated.”

In particular, Luntz said he believes Pence was well-received by participants because in Wednesday night’s debate in Utah, he cut a sharp contrast to how President Donald Trump performed in his brawl against Democratic nominee Joe Biden. Luntz stressed that voters are looking for more than just where candidates stand on particular issues.

“What they’re doing is watching to see whether or not they can trust that individual, and Mike Pence did extraordinarily well in that. He never got agitated. He never got flustered,” said Luntz. “This is a complete difference from the first debate that our focus group thought Joe Biden won because they thought, frankly, that Donald Trump wasn’t acting presidential.”

Focus group participants were looking for more specifics on both campaigns’ plans for helping the U.S. economy recover from the damaged caused by the coronavirus pandemic, according to Luntz.

“I want to be clear about this, voters aren’t looking backwards. They’re looking ahead,” Luntz said. “We know what happened over the last fours. Now tell me what’s going to happen over the next four weeks, four months and four years.”

Tammy Vigil, a professor of communication studies at Boston University, told CNBC she believes both Pence and Harris demonstrated their ability to lead the country during the debate. However, the political communication researcher said on “Street Signs Europe” that Harris performed better in articulating “a truthful critique of the opponent.”

“The blows that Pence landed, as we can see through several of the fact checks, were actually often based on false information or false reads of situations,” she said. At one point, Pence insisted Biden would ban fracking. In fact, Biden does not support an outright ban on fracking.

Of course, Democrats have double standards.

Even Hillary Clinton has chimed in...

She appears to be praising Kamala for her sass, eye rolling, and snide remarks:

A body language analysis of Kamala Harris also suggests that Harris knew that she lost the debate.

The Washington Examiner explains:

What can be deemed as superficial is often the determiner of debates: body language. And the strong nonverbal signals Sen. Kamala Harris was giving Vice President Mike Pence and debate viewers didn’t make any of us want to sit down and have a beer with her, or jam along to Tupac.

Body language is often the hardest to contain when one candidate is listening to the other. Whether you call it a smirk, a squint, or "resting bitch face," not even the plexiglass barrier prevented the rest of us from noticing the mom glares she was tossing Pence’s way. Complete with raised eyebrows, the agitated looks she was giving Pence showed complete disdain.

To be fair, it’s harder to know what to do with your face when you aren’t speaking than when you are. Having to keep a pleasant look on your face while your opponent blasts your record tests even the most gifted debater. But it’s part of the deal. You keep your cool, you keep your poker face, and when you disagree with an attack, you subtly smile with a slight shake of the head. It’s the visual version of Ronald Reagan’s “There you go again.” Those who can visually weather a tough line of questioning seem like they have nothing to hide and, therefore, strategically muddy the attack.

What I will give Harris credit for is that she looked at Pence when he was speaking. Her visual acknowledgment that she shared the stage with him was a contrast to how Joe Biden handled the first presidential debate. Biden rarely looked at President Trump, making it seem as if he didn’t know he was at a debate, or it was a purposeful way to demonstrate that he didn’t even think Trump deserved the respect to be recognized. Regardless of the reason, he failed on eye contact, and she excelled, even though it was reminiscent of a just-wait-till-your-father-comes-home look.

That intensity carried over to when she spoke. This was when she became more agitated. Her hand gestures were frantic, often choppy, which communicates to Pence and to the audience that I’m talking at you, not with you. Her gestures were big, often leaving the camera frame, and at one point she even popped up from her chair — in a seated debate. It communicated that she wasn’t in control. She should have taken a page from Tulsi Gabbard, who is a strong debater and bested Harris during the primary. It’s the calm and steady facial expressions that communicate strength.

This is where Pence excelled. Whether you love him or hate him, he is consistent with an unflappable poker face. No matter the attacks, no matter how many times he is asked to stop speaking, no matter that a fly landed on his head, Pence will soldier on and be exactly who you expect him to be.

Sure, it’s wooden and a bit boring. Yes, he can purse his lips too much in between thoughts, and you wonder if he’s a robot, but after the first presidential debate that was widely derided as uncivil, Pence’s nonverbals were a welcome respite. His visuals were respectful toward Harris, and nothing she said changed the way he looked at her. He is the complete opposite of Trump in every single way.

To top it off, as the debate concluded, Pence for roughly 60 seconds tried to get Harris’s attention to give her a nod in thanks. She refused to look at him, so he waited until she finally had to acknowledge him. It encapsulated the evening — Pence showed her respect even though they disagreed. Harris showed him disdain, which is how she really feels.

If the media actually did their job, we wouldn't have to be talking about this.

Unfortunately, we have to do deep dives into what actually happened on the debate stage.

Every metric appears to suggest that Mike Pence clearly won! No questions asked.

Yet... the media (as usual) is attempting to paint this as a Democratic victory.