Joe Battenfeld: Kamala Harris's goading gets her a debate win, but it may not last

Kamala Harris’s strategy of repeatedly goading Donald Trump into losing his cool may have worked for a night but it won’t be a long-term formula for success.

Harris will get a short-term bump based on her tactics but at what cost?

If you have to declare victory in a presidential debate based on a practiced strategy of smiling and trying to trigger your opponent, what kind of victory is that? Not a presidential one.

Harris did not declare a win based on laying out detailed policy points or staunchly defending the Biden administration because the ABC debate moderators never bothered to press her.

Trump was essentially debating three people in Philadelphia Tuesday night, Harris, and anti-Trumpers David Muir and Linsey Davis.

Their one-sided performance helped keep Trump on the defensive and under siege.

In fact the vice president threw Joe Biden under the bus on Tuesday night, declaring “you’re not running against Joe Biden, you’re running against me.”

What do you think poor Biden thought when hearing that?

Trump certainly didn’t help matters by letting Harris get under his skin. Unlike his debate against Biden, where he let the president get in trouble just by talking, Trump couldn’t resist trying to poke back at Harris.

The former president started off OK but as the night wore on, he got more and more exasperated with Harris and it showed.

Even Trump supporters acknowledged he did not have a good night, and polls show a clear Harris debate win.

But it’s unlikely there will be a large shift this late in the race and with the nation so deeply polarized.

History shows that debate winners don’t always win at the ballot box. Hillary Clinton won her first debate with Trump handily in 2016, and ended up getting trounced on Election Day.

Mitt Romney creamed Barack Obama in their first debate in 2012, and went on to lose. Trump has rebounded from bad performances before, so giddy Democrats should realize that before they start celebrating.

Despite losing the debate, voters still prefer Trump’s views on the economy and immigration by wide margins.

Harris immediately called for a second October debate after the first was over, but only on a friendly network where no doubt the moderators and format will be against Trump.

Fox News has offered to host a debate but there’s virtually no chance Harris will agree to that.