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Kamala Harris’ joyful campaign will Tuesday be hit by the blunt force of reality — a debate with Donald Trump — the most menacing political foe of modern times.
The vice president transformed the 2024 election after President Joe Biden’s abject debate showing against Trump on CNN in June led him to end his reelection bid. She restored several swing states to the electoral battlefield and has had Democrats dreaming of a stunning turnabout in a race most thought they were well on the way to losing.
Yet her success in unifying her party, branding herself as a fresh voice of generational change and closing into a dead heat with Trump in polling has so far not cemented a reliable path to the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency. Indeed, if the election were on Tuesday, the ex-president, who has already defied an assassination attempt and scores of criminal charges, could still win.
Presidential debates usually don’t decide elections — notwithstanding the cataclysmic impact of Biden’s wipeout. But Tuesday night represents the best remaining chance for Harris to drive home a decisive argument that could thwart Trump’s historic comeback.
Her assignment in Philadelphia will require the use of rhetorical skills that have been often questioned in an uneven vice presidency. While she has had her moments in debates and Senate hearings, Harris has sometimes struggled to articulate clear policies and answers under pressure in spontaneous situations.
Her willingness to submit to only one major media interview since becoming the Democratic nominee, on CNN last month, has only raised the bar for her performance in what is so far the only scheduled debate with Trump. And while the former president has now taken part in presidential debates in three separate elections, this will be Harris’ first venture onto the debate stage since her meeting with former Vice President Mike Pence in 2020.
