Staff Reports
Tuesday marks a significant moment in the battle of the boxes, as Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump prepare to spar on stage in Philadelphia. Each candidate comes with a game plan, and while one aims for a momentum win, the other is out to remind voters why they loved him in the first place.
Harris, who has been buoyed by a surge in polling ever since she took the lead over President Biden on the Democratic ticket, isn’t exactly riding a wave of momentum. Despite her initial bounce in July, she hasn’t managed to expand her lead over Trump since the summer. It seems the clock is ticking, and with Election Day fast approaching, she’s keen to make a splash in this debate—though what type of splash remains to be seen.
"Policy is where Trump needs to focus because Harris has zero policies she can rely on. Harris will be focused on abortion and Project 2025, but outside of them she risks bringing something up that she has completely flip-flopped on in the past."
This is dead on.
Trump's… https://t.co/7FJnWKzwYg
— Toby Watson (@TobyWats) September 10, 2024
Trump, on the other hand, views this debate as his big chance to “reset” his campaign. Some political consultants suggest that he should wise-up by directly tying Harris to the Biden administration’s unpopular policies rather than her infamous chuckles that always seem to pop up at the worst possible moments. Calm, collected, and with a point to prove, he’s advised to channel the style from his previous debate performance against Biden. After all, it’s difficult to distinguish yourself when you’re too busy chuckling your way through serious matters.
For Harris, the strategy involves not just choosing the right outfit to exude presidential vibes, but also mud-wrestling Trump’s trademark bombast. Some Democratic strategists appear to think that Harris can take a page out of the not-so-successful playbook of Hillary Clinton, who never quite managed to land effective blows on Trump in their debates. Apparently, the consensus is that the gloves are off, and she needs to go at him like a lioness protecting her cubs.
Voters in the state of Pennsylvania have raised their voices, with some expressing a desire to watch Harris demonstrate just how she plans to “win” against Trump, particularly by addressing economic issues. It seems that the Democrats have a trump card—Harris should label Trump as a “convicted felon” and somehow claim that all of her policies will ride in like white knights to save the economy, despite the fact those jobs reports have often painted a rosy picture. It’s almost like trying to convince people that the punchline of a bad joke is actually the setup for a better one.
Meanwhile, Trump supporters have their own expectations. They want their guy to stand firm, shedding light on his successes while clearly contrasting his days in office with Biden’s current administration. Many believe the former president has an abundance of accomplishments he could tout, so they’d prefer he skip the name-calling and stick to facts—though asking Trump to play nice has often yielded disappointing results. After all, isn’t it one of the greatest joys of watching politics unfold to see some good old-fashioned debate drama? But with the rhetoric heating up, it will be entertaining, if nothing else, to see how this showdown unfolds.
