Harris prepares for the most significant political confrontation of her career in the debate against Trump.
The vice president revitalized the 2024 election following President Joe Biden's disappointing debate performance against Trump on CNN, leading him to abandon his reelection bid. She managed to reintroduce several swing states into the electoral contest and sparked hopes of a remarkable turnaround in a race often believed to be a lost cause for Democrats.
However, despite successfully uniting her party and positioning herself as a new voice of generational change, she has yet to secure a reliable route to the 270 electoral votes needed for victory. In fact, if the election was held on that day, Trump, who has survived an assassination attempt and numerous criminal charges, could still emerge victorious.
Presidential debates typically do not influence election outcomes, but Tuesday night provides a final opportunity for Harris to forcefully present arguments that could stall Trump's remarkable resurgence.
In Philadelphia, she will be required to employ rhetorical abilities that have been subject to criticism during her uneven vice presidency. While she has shown aptitude in debates and Senate hearings, she has encountered challenges articulating clear policies and responding under pressure in spontaneous situations. Her decision to engage in only one major media interview since becoming the Democratic nominee, during a CNN appearance last month, has increased expectations for her performance. This will be her first debate since her encounter with former Vice President Mike Pence in 2020.
Dramatic contrast in stage presence
As she attempts to become the first Black woman and South Asian president, Harris will share the stage for the first time with a contender who will stop at nothing to secure victory and has a history of exploiting racial and gendered stereotypes for political gain. Trump has questioned her intelligence, race, and has promoted sexual innuendos about her on social media. However, Harris has resolved not to be ensnared in his traps. In her CNN interview, she declined to engage with Trump's race-based comments, dismissing them as an "old, worn-out playbook" and requesting the next question.
Harris possesses less political experience at a high level than either Hillary Clinton or Biden when they faced Trump in presidential debates. Some members of her party even doubted her potential as the strongest Democratic candidate for a post-Biden era.
But on Tuesday, Harris has the chance to dispel misconceptions about her political acumen and establish a foundation for her race towards November 5th.
A campaign that has emphasized caution and minimizing unscripted public exposure for the vice president confronts a no-escape moment on national television. The cost of failure is significant – as it could pave the way for a powerful ex-president, who sought to subvert American democracy following the 2020 election, to mount a fresh presidency driven by "retribution." The stakes for Democrats were made clear on Saturday when Trump vowed on social media to prosecute and jail election officials, political opponents, donors, and others whom he accuses of "cheating" in the election.
How Harris might secure victory
Despite the challenges, a successful performance on Tuesday night could offer Harris a platform to persuade wavering voters in crucial swing states that she possesses viable plans to improve their lives. A New York Times/Siena College poll released over the weekend suggested such opportunities, revealing that 28% of likely voters wanted to learn more about the vice president, whereas only 9% expressed interest in the Republican nominee.
Harris has clearly been considering strategies to appeal to these voters. She has, for example, demonstrated more concern for their economic challenges than Biden, whose defensive comments regarding the unevenness of the post-pandemic recovery transformed into a liability. Harris has pledged to address "price gouging" on groceries, provide up to $25,000 in downpayment support for first-time homebuyers, and improve affordability of rent.
In a broader context, she is offering voters the chance to avoid the turmoil, bitterness, and political upheaval that characterized Trump's first term and that his escalating statements suggest would only escalate in a second.
Harris's challenges in the debate
However, to triumph in the debate, the vice president must overcome three substantial hurdles.
— She must maintain a balance between refuting the anticipated barrage of attacks and lies from Trump while emphasizing her message. “I think he’s going to lie and he has a playbook that he has used in the past, be it, you know, his attacks on President Obama or Hillary Clinton,” Harris said in a radio interview on “The Rickey Smiley Morning Show” released on Monday. “What I intend to point out is what we – so many people – know, and certainly, as I’m traveling the country in this campaign, he tends to fight for himself, not for the American people.”
— Harris must also navigate the contradiction inherent in her campaign – promising change and renewal while being associated with an unpopular administration that Trump criticizes for many of the problems she proposes to resolve, including high prices for groceries and housing.
In a similar battle, Harris must attempt to bridge the gap with Biden on two critical matters that voters consider crucial and where she typically lags behind Trump in surveys: handling the economy and immigration. Trump has had a tough time debunking Harris since she entered the contest, but his marketing strategy includes slamming both Biden and Harris for exacerbating the economic troubles affecting the middle class. In a memo released on Monday, Trump's team expressed, "As the primary advocate for Bidenomics, she must convince voters how Bidenomics works, despite everything being more costly than under President Trump."
— Harris will also need to counteract Trump's anticipated attacks on her policy inconsistencies that she endorsed during her brief Democratic primary campaign in 2019, such as fracking and border control. In an effort to clarify her perspective in an interview with Dana Bash on CNN, Harris stated that while her strategies might have evolved, her "values have remained constant." She justified, for instance, that she now thinks tackling climate change is possible without prohibiting fracking, aiming to soften her stance on an issue that could harm her in Pennsylvania, a battleground state. However, this viewpoint gives the Trump campaign ammunition to claim she would revert to her initial stance if she gains power.
The Trump team has not concealed its disdain for Harris' political acumen and thinks her performance will be closer to her early missteps during her vice presidency than her accomplished, yet scripted, performance at the Democratic convention. Trump, for instance, stated last week, "I'll let her speak."
This represented one of the milder comments Trump has aimed at Harris as he has worked to intensify his attacks on his competitor. But Anita Dunn, a former Biden advisor who helped prepare the president for the June debate, said the new Democratic nominee was ready to handle anything Trump throws her way.
"He will say anything – that is actually the issue – not to get lost in those rabbit holes," Dunn told CNN's Erin Burnett on Monday. "He will say anything – it may not make sense; it may be totally incoherent, but he will say it with a lot of conviction. And so, knowing your game plan, what you want to convey to the American people, is vital," Dunn added.
"I believe the vice president will be fully prepared to do that."
Despite the challenges she faces, Vice President Kamala Harris has a critical opportunity on Tuesday night to dispel misconceptions about her political acumen and demonstrate her capabilities as a Presidential contender. Her performance could help persuade wavering voters in crucial swing states and dispel doubts about her ability to handle the economy and immigration, two key issues that voters consider crucial. However, she must navigate a barrage of attacks and lies from Trump, maintain a balance between refutation and message, and address policy inconsistencies from her past.
In the wake of criticism for her uneven vice presidency and less political experience compared to former presidential nominees, Harris now has the chance to showcase her debating skills and generate support for her race towards November 5th. If she can successfully navigate these hurdles, it could pave the way for a remarkable turnaround in the political landscape, potentially securing her the 270 electoral votes needed for victory.
