Examining Kamala Harris's debating skills: What the facts reveal
What about Vice President Kamala Harris, despite her weak 2020 presidential campaign that ended in December 2019 before the primary votes were cast, left an impact. On the primary debate stage in June 2019, before she was Biden's running mate or he was close to the White House, Harris thoroughly criticized Joe Biden.
"That young girl was me"
Policing and race were vital issues in the 2020 Democratic primary.
"I'm not saying you're a racist," Harris told Biden, looking him straight in the eye as he stared ahead or at his podium. But she found it painful that Biden would praise men like the late Sens. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina and John Stennis of Mississippi, "who built their careers on segregation in this country."
She went on to say that during his Senate career, Biden worked with these men on legislation against federally mandated busing in local school districts.
"There was a girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools, and she was bused to school every day," Harris said. "And that little girl was me."
It was an impactful statement, showing Harris' capability on the debate stage – confidently presented, skillfully delivered, unsparing, and told directly to her opponent, who later chose her as his running mate.
A chance to prosecute Trump
Harris has undoubtedly spent her debate time preparing material against her opponent this year. She and Trump are set to debate for the first time on Tuesday in the crucial state of Pennsylvania, with ABC News broadcasting the event.
Democrats have tried to portray this campaign as one between a former prosecutor in Harris and a convicted felon in Trump. Harris will need to live up to this reputation as a tough prosecutor on Tuesday by voicing Democrats' long-held anger towards Trump to his face.
Unlike with Biden, Harris won't have to delve into the 1970s for ammunition. She can focus on his criminal conviction in New York, his liability in a sex abuse and defamation case, his nationalist policies, his baseless claims of election fraud – for which there is no evidence – or his infamous pledge to jail election officials.
One speaker at a time
While Harris will have much to say about Trump, she won't benefit from his interruptions. During the debate, the candidates' mics will be muted when it's not their turn to speak, so Trump will not be able to interrupt Harris with insults like he did with Hillary Clinton, such as "You're the puppet!" or "You'd be in jail," during debates in 2016.
It also means Harris' memorable moment in the 2020 vice presidential debate, when she said "Mr. Vice President, I'm speaking," in response to Mike Pence interrupting her, won't happen.
Prep can fall flat
Not all of Harris' planned criticisms work as well as the busing attack on Biden. During another 2019 debate, Harris targeted Sen. Elizabeth Warren on the topic of Warren's plan to break up tech companies.
Harris tried to simplify this larger issue by expressing her disappointment that Warren wouldn't call for Twitter (then a different company) to suspend Trump's account. Twitter later suspended Trump's account after the January 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection, but the company was subsequently bought by Elon Musk and renamed and Trump is now active on the platform again.
Harris' point felt insignificant, allowing Warren to make a more compelling statement.
"Look, I don't just want to get Trump off Twitter, I want to get him out of the White House," Warren said.
This exchange might serve as a warning for Harris to avoid getting bogged down in details since Trump will, as history has shown, happily fabricate facts to make his points.
Lines of attack against Harris
This brings us to a telling Harris debate exchange from 2019. She faced criticism from former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard about her prosecutorial record, which was to the right of the Democratic Party at the time. Gabbard accused Harris of being too harsh on marijuana offenders and had other criticisms of her time as a prosecutor.
"I'm proud of that work," Harris retorted, justifying her career as attorney general by saying she worked to improve California and opposed the death penalty, rather than just delivering "fancy speeches" or serving in legislative bodies.
The irony is that Gabbard, now a former Democrat, has supported Trump, who advocates for the death penalty for drug offenders.
Gabbard has reportedly assisted Trump with his own debate preparation, and Trump will likely try to present Harris as leaning to the left of the American mainstream – changing her positions for political gain in 2019 and now modifying them again to campaign for the presidency.
According to a recent survey conducted by The New York Times/Siena College, the contest is quite even, falling within the acceptable variation. A small number of probable voters, under 10%, expressed the need for further insights regarding Trump. Conversely, over a quarter of participants, at 28%, highlighted their desire for more information about Harris. This could indicate either her potential for further development or potential setbacks following her confrontations with Trump.
Despite the criticism she faced during her 2020 primary campaign, Kamala Harris' stance on politics was evident in her debates. She fiercely criticized Joe Biden's past stance on federally mandated busing, revealing a personal connection to the issue.
Given her background as a prosecutor, Harris is expected to utilize her debate time against Donald Trump, focusing on his criminal conviction and other controversial policies.
