Point of View from the Democratic Side:
There was lots of optimism in the room. After the midsummer change from President Biden, Maryland Democrats are confident Vice President Harris can win.
This was an intimate space over on Allegheny Avenue in Towson. Baltimore County Democrats call this home. There was lots of smiling and cheering when the Vice President spoke.
All in attendance were energized by this candidacy. With much on the ballot this November, Democrats have been canvassing and door knocking.
They say some folks in the county are not familiar with Harris, and they were paying close attention to how the Vice President presented herself to those folks.
When asked why Kamala Harris is the right choice for Democrats, votes of confidence came to the forefront.
"She is one amazing woman," says Dr. Charlotte Wood, Chair of the Baltimore Democratic State Central Committee.
"She's very talented; she's very knowledgeable; she has a background in law."
"She has a splendid record. Her role as Vice President makes her even more truly suited to be the number one candidate for presidency. So, we want to make sure she wins this election."
Point of view from the Republican Side:
Each person was glued to the televisions from the start at the El Salvador restaurant, listening to each response from both candidates.
People there were showing overwhelming support for former President Donald Trump.
As the debate went on, people cheered and shared their clear feelings about the responses from each candidate.
Some people say they are proud about how former President Trump handled the debate and how clearly he addressed each of the claims against him from Kamala Harris.
But some people did take note of the fact that the moderators were heavily fact-checking Donald Trump but not as much for Kamala Harris.
"I think he's doing fine, and she is doing fine too," says John Minnick of the Maryland Republican Party.
"Unfortunately, I think three, maybe four times the people who were doing the questions corrected something President Trump said, and they haven't done any of it on anything she said, and so I think there is a little bit of that going on, but that is to be expected; he is doing fine, and both of them are doing fine."
There was not a large turnout for this event. Party leaders were saying it was because they faced challenges when trying to get the word out about the watch party.
To be clear, this was not an accurate representation of the local support for former President Trump.
