PHILADELPHIA – Democrats were eager for Vice President Kamala Harris to be their candidate, believing she could skillfully challenge former President Donald Trump during debates.

Now, the spotlight is on her to perform.

As she gears up to make her case against Trump in their first debate on Tuesday evening in Philadelphia, Harris has the most at stake.

Her approval ratings have surpassed Trump’s in the weeks following President Joe Biden’s exit from the race, after his disappointing debate performance against Trump. Harris has gained a slight lead over her Republican rival in several national polls. She enters the debate under tremendous pressure due to her past debate successes and her experience as a former prosecutor.

During her time as a U.S. senator, Harris assertively questioned Trump administration officials, often leaving them flustered or embarrassed with her rapid-fire inquiries during congressional hearings. Democrats are hoping she will adopt a similarly combative stance against Trump.

“While President Biden and Vice President Harris share similar policies, their styles of speaking are quite different. I believe Vice President Harris will engage in a markedly different debate with Donald Trump than Joe Biden did,” remarked Halie Soifer, who was Harris’ national security adviser in the Senate.

Since taking office as vice president, Harris has opted for a cautious approach. She has faced criticism for being overly scripted, often participating in interviews with well-known celebrities and addressing only pre-screened questions at her events.

Her careful strategy has persisted throughout her campaign as the Democratic nominee.

Harris has primarily attended campaign events where she reads from prepared scripts. Aside from a CNN interview on August 29, where she responded to questions about her policy changes with standard answers, she has mostly avoided the media. She has not held any press conferences and has stayed away from scenarios that might expose her to challenging questions or pushback, which could help clarify her message.

However, as she faces Trump in Philadelphia, she will contend with an opponent unafraid to launch personal attacks. Historically, Trump has thrived in debates partly due to low expectations set for him.

“There’s no standard too low for Trump,” commented Isaac Wright, a seasoned Democratic strategist who has worked on campaigns for Hillary Clinton and Al Gore. “People don’t expect him to do much beyond stringing together a few sentences.”

“He is indifferent to the truth, creating a unique dynamic in debates where he’s perfectly willing to lie or say anything,” Wright added.

The upcoming debate will mark the first direct confrontation between Harris and the former president, who did not attend her inauguration as vice president at the U.S. Capitol on his last day in office.

Biden faced Trump twice in debates but struggled to counter many of his points, often relying on memorized responses and statistics, a dilemma his supporters attributed to over-preparation.

Following the president’s awkward debate performances, Harris’ campaign has shifted tactics. The vice president is now spending less time in isolation and is using her final preparations in Pittsburgh, allowing for spontaneous campaign appearances to take breaks.

During a short visit to a spice shop in Pittsburgh on Saturday, she expressed to reporters her readiness to meet Trump on Tuesday. When asked about her key message for the debate, she stated, “It’s time to move past the divisiveness. We need to unite our country and forge a new path forward.”

Harris is adopting a strategy reminiscent of Barack Obama’s campaign, which kept him in Nevada before his first general election debate in 2012. Among Harris’ current advisors is David Plouffe, one of the key strategists behind Obama’s presidential victories.

Harris has also embraced her role as the “underdog” in this race, highlighting her late entry, and in her convention acceptance address, she remarked on how she has been “underestimated at every stage” of her political journey.

However, she received praise for her incisive remarks against Biden during a primary debate in 2019 and for her performance in 2020 against former Vice President Mike Pence.

“Mr. Vice President, I’m speaking,” she asserted during a moment when he interrupted her.

The rules for this upcoming debate will not allow for similar exchanges, after Harris’ campaign unsuccessfully requested that microphones be unmuted during debates.

In a letter to debate organizers, her campaign asserted that she would be “fundamentally disadvantaged”

During the debate, which was formatted as a 90-minute session as requested by her advisors when Biden was the Democratic nominee, Trump has made efforts to set the stage at a lower level of expectation. According to his campaign, he prepared for the debate through on-camera interviews and speeches, opting out of traditional formal preparations. He commented at a Friday event that he would be stepping into “very hostile” territory and criticized debate host ABC News in anticipation of what he believed would be unfair treatment.

Kamala Harris, Vice President

Since becoming the unofficial Democratic nominee, Harris has worked on presenting a hopeful vision for the country, positioning herself as a progressive leader willing to govern from the center.

This intention might clash with her instincts as a former prosecutor during her debates with Trump, who is likely to reference her past positions from her unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2019—positions she claims to have evolved from. He has scrutinized her for perceived shortcomings in the Biden-Harris administration regarding the economy and foreign relations, mistakenly labeling her as the nation’s border overseer.

“It’s easy for someone to get lost in trying to counter that barrage. If that happens, it’s simple to lose focus on an affirmative agenda,” stated Nathan Barankin, her chief of staff in California and at the start of her Senate career.

“Strategically, she and her team will need to carefully consider how much of their time to dedicate to confrontations,” he added.

Harris has sometimes combined both strategies—balancing a positive approach with direct responses to Trump in her prepared speeches.

“While she can’t call out every single falsehood—there will be too many—she will differentiate truth from falsehood while sharing her message,” noted Soifer, who has provided advice on national security matters to Harris and is now the executive director of the Jewish Democratic Council of America.

Doug Emhoff, the second gentleman, described Harris as “a joyful warrior” at a volunteer gathering in Norristown, Pennsylvania, emphasizing her empathy and care for others, which reflecting her dedication to working on behalf of families.

“In the debate,” he cautioned, “Donald Trump is going to encounter her warrior side.”

On the campaign trail, Trump has highlighted Harris’s record as Vice President and her failed presidential run in 2019. He has criticized her for not halting illegal immigration from Mexico and attempted to connect her with the disorganised military exit from Afghanistan three years prior.

His campaign has also targeted her for past comments in the 2019 race about wanting to ban fracking, implementing the “Green New Deal” for climate action, and advocating for a mandatory gun buyback scheme.

Foreseeing how she may tackle these topics in the debate, Harris mentioned to CNN that her “values have not changed,” and she has come to appreciate the importance of consensus-building after her time in higher positions.

Harris’ campaign declined to provide details regarding her debate strategy.

The Trump campaign criticized her for a lack of press conferences and mocked her campaign for finally conforming to debate rules they initially proposed, in addition to a phrase she often incorporates in her speeches.

“Americans deserve to witness both candidates share their distinct visions, without the burden of past actions. No notes, no sitting down,” stated Jason Miller, a senior advisor to the Trump campaign.

While Harris has occasionally struggled to communicate her message as Biden’s deputy, former aides suggest she will present a different persona against Trump in the debates.

“Forget the last three years; that wasn’t the Kamala Harris we know,” Barankin noted.

“She’ll be using her own voice and logic, leading this campaign independently, so I expect to see someone far more confident, persuasive, and pointed than we’ve seen from her previously,” he added.

Her experience from her time on the Senate Judiciary Committee could be telling, as allies and former team members pointed out that even as a junior senator, she effectively shaped the narrative despite having less time to question witnesses compared to her longer-standing colleagues.

Harris aims not only to prevail in the debate but also to demonstrate her readiness to assume the presidency, explained John Geer, a political science professor at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.

“Trump tries to label her as an extremist, calling her ‘Comrade Kamala,’” Geer noted. Yet, “Kamala Harris is neither a communist nor a socialist. Her ability to present herself as a mainstream candidate will be easier than many anticipate.”

In some respects, Trump’s attempts to paint Harris as an extremist draw parallels with the 1980 presidential campaign between Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, Geer remarked. Carter aimed to show Americans that Reagan was a threat. However, in their final debate just a week before the election, “Ronald Reagan didn’t seem threatening,” he stated. “He appeared completely presidential, which severely impacted Carter’s campaign.”

The shift in momentum worked to Reagan’s advantage, resulting in a decisive victory.

Harris as the Prosecutor

Harris aims to flip the narrative on Trump, according to her supporters.

She has frequently leveraged her background as a courtroom prosecutor and California attorney general to criticize Trump during her campaign.

“In those roles, I stood up to various offenders—predators who harmed women, fraudsters who deceived consumers, and those who manipulated the rules for personal benefit. So, listen closely: I understand Donald Trump’s type,” she stated during a speech to her campaign team in Wilmington, Del. this July.

During her speech, Harris mentioned that she focused on sexual abuse cases while working at the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office. “A jury found Donald Trump liable for sexual abuse,” she declared.

A jury in 2023 determined that Trump had sexually abused E. Jean Carroll, ordering him to pay $5 million in damages.

Harris also referenced Trump University, pointing out that “Trump operated a for-profit college that was compelled to pay $25 million to students it defrauded.”

Trump University was a for-profit seminar series that claimed to teach students the secrets to real estate success. After his election victory, Trump engaged in settlement discussions regarding a fraud lawsuit. A federal judge finalized the agreement in 2018.

In her statements, Harris drew parallels between this case and one she pursued as California attorney general against Corinthian Colleges.

The college filed for bankruptcy in 2015. At that time, Harris and other state attorneys general were pursuing legal action against it for misleading advertising. The following year, Harris announced a $1.1 billion settlement against the institution, having initiated the lawsuit in 2013.

Additionally, she highlighted other cases and settlements from her tenure in California to emphasize Trump’s conviction earlier this spring on 34 counts of fraud related to falsifying business records, charges stemming from his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results and his promise to pardon those involved in the January 6 riot.

“Think about the disorder he caused while in office and the serious implications of what has transpired since he lost the election,” Harris remarked during her nomination acceptance speech. “Donald Trump attempted to dismiss your votes. When he couldn’t, he incited an armed mob to storm the U.S. Capitol, where they assaulted law enforcement.”

Harris’ legal experience might provide her with an upper hand in debates against Trump, according to Wright.

“She has a background as a prosecutor who has taken on criminals, and that’s exactly the situation here,” he explained. “She must effectively present her case to the American public and shine a light on a criminal, asking if this is truly the best option we have, while offering a viable alternative.”

Barankin mentioned that if Harris raises Trump’s criminal charges during the debate, it could have politically mixed reactions as it tends to energize his base. He stated that her team likely considers what will resonate with undecided voters.

Democratic strategist Faiz Shakir remarked that while the debate involves some risks for Harris, it simultaneously presents a chance to argue against Trump.

Biden disparaged Trump personally during a debate on June 27, illustrating that the former president has “the morals of an alley cat.” However, Trump has yet to encounter an opponent this election cycle who has aggressively targeted him on policy, Shakir noted.

“She has the opportunity to present a fresh viewpoint on Donald Trump that you may not have encountered before,” stated Shakir, who previously managed Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign in 2020 and has also advised former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Shakir stated that Trump does not follow conventional debate norms, saying, “What he prepares for is psychological trolling.”

“He aims to divert attention from the topics you wish to discuss,” he said. “He brings up random issues that are irrelevant to the question. It becomes less about debating and more like a chaotic battle.”

Trump’s unpredictability poses a challenge, even for adept debaters, to determine effective responses.

“How anyone reacts remains uncertain until it unfolds in real time,” Wright added.

Harris’ reactions could significantly influence the closing weeks of the election.