By Joseph Ax
(Reuters) -Republican Donald Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris ready to satisfy for the primary time on Tuesday evening of their solely scheduled debate of the U.S. presidential marketing campaign, a key second in a close-fought contest.
The nationally televised debate starting at 9 p.m. ET (0100 GMT, Wednesday) takes place simply eight weeks earlier than the Nov. 5 election, and days earlier than early voting will begin in some states.
Former President Trump mentioned he would distinction the left-wing insurance policies Harris proposed in her failed 2020 presidential bid with the extra centrist positions she has staked out now.
“You don’t know what to expect. She’s changed all of her policies over the years,” he informed NBC Information in a telephone interview.
Harris indicated she’s going to draw consideration to Trump’s behavior of mendacity.
“Donald Trump has a real problem with the truth,” she wrote in a social media put up Tuesday morning. Her marketing campaign launched an advert that includes former President Barack Obama ridiculing Trump’s false claims about crowd sizes at his occasions.
Harris can even discuss her plans to decrease People’ every day bills, marketing campaign advisers mentioned.
The encounter is especially essential for Harris, with opinion polls exhibiting that greater than 1 / 4 of doubtless voters really feel they don’t but know sufficient about her.
The controversy presents Harris, a former prosecutor, an opportunity to make her case towards Trump, whose felony convictions, outspoken backing for supporters convicted within the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol and frequent falsehoods supply loads of fertile floor.
FIRST MEETING
It is going to be the primary time the 2 candidates have met and follows weeks of private assaults on Harris by Trump and his allies which have included racist and sexist insults.
Trump’s advisers and fellow Republicans have urged him to concentrate on the excessive ranges of inflation and immigration which have taken place throughout Democrat Joe Biden’s presidency, although each have dropped dramatically this 12 months.
“He’s ready to talk about why your life was better when he was in office,” Lara Trump, the candidate’s daughter-in-law, mentioned on CNN.
Presidential debates don’t essentially change voters’ minds, however they’ll rework the dynamics of a race. Biden’s efficiency towards Trump in June was so damaging that it will definitely led him to desert his marketing campaign.
In a contest that would once more come right down to tens of hundreds of votes in a handful of states, even a small shift in public opinion may alter the result. The 2 candidates are successfully tied within the seven battleground states prone to resolve the election, in keeping with polling averages compiled by the New York Instances.
“There is more for Kamala Harris to gain and more for her to lose,” since she stays much less recognized to many citizens, mentioned Mitchell McKinney, a former adviser to the U.S. Fee on Presidential Debates.
Viewers will probably be on the lookout for the place she stands on varied points. However simply as essential, they are going to be seeking to see how she handles herself towards Trump, who’s already well-known.
“She spoke to the teleprompter the last 15 times I’ve saw her, so it’ll be interesting to see how she handles questions,” mentioned Dave Boligitz, a Philadelphia hospital administrator.
MUTED MICROPHONES
The 90-minute debate, hosted by ABC Information, will happen on the Nationwide Structure Middle in Philadelphia. As agreed by the campaigns, there will probably be no reside viewers and microphones will probably be muted when it isn’t a candidate’s flip to talk.
Harris has been making ready in Pittsburgh since Thursday, holding mock periods on a stage with lights to recreate the controversy atmosphere.
Trump has relied on casual chats with advisers, marketing campaign appearances and media interviews to organize, with former Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard – who had a memorably hostile change with Harris in a Democratic presidential debate in 2019 – providing recommendation.
On a name with reporters, Gabbard mentioned Trump would deal with Harris the identical as another opponent.
“President Trump respects women and doesn’t feel the need to be patronizing or to speak to women in any other way than he would speak to a man,” she mentioned.
Whereas any private crossfire will get loads of consideration, the 2 rivals are additionally prone to skirmish over points.
Abortion has been a high difficulty for Harris and Democrats since 2022, when the U.S. Supreme Courtroom – powered by three Trump appointees – eradicated a nationwide proper to the process in a broadly unpopular choice.
Harris has additionally sought to tie Trump to Undertaking 2025, a conservative coverage blueprint that proposes increasing govt energy, eliminating environmental rules and making it unlawful to ship abortion drugs throughout state strains, amongst different right-wing targets.
Trump has supplied shifting rhetoric on abortion whereas distancing himself from Undertaking 2025, though a lot of his former advisers have been concerned within the effort.
Trump is predicted to spotlight Harris’ previous help – since disavowed – for left-wing stances similar to banning fracking, portraying her both as a flip-flopper or an excessive liberal in disguise.
