On Tuesday, the first and only televised debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris will take place: How well prepared are the candidates for the big showdown, and who will land the knockout punch?
When the two step into the ring next Tuesday evening, there will be no cheering audience or booming beats to fill the hall. For once, the two presidential candidates will be alone, without advisors and without the Vice President.
Donald Trump and Kamala Harris will face each other eye to eye, for the first time, relying solely on their arguments, quick wit, and charisma.
On September 10, everything will be at stake. Millions of Americans are expected to witness the spectacle at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, which starts at 9 PM, prime time on ABC News. And they will see with their own eyes and judge who has what it takes to govern the country. Because whoever wins the debate also wins the presidency.
What it means to step into this ring has been painfully experienced by President Joe Biden. Every stutter and every mistake leads to a counterattack. After Biden’s miserable performance on June 27, it became clear: This man cannot govern the USA for another four years. He had to step down as a candidate.
The second debate will last 90 minutes. The microphones will only be turned on for the person who has the floor. Notes and other aids are not allowed.
The public wants to see especially how the previously pale Vice President and former prosecutor holds up against Trump. After Biden’s botched performance, many claimed that she had called out Trump’s false statements, better explained the Democrats’ policies, and put Trump in his place.
Whether that is true will be revealed next Tuesday. Currently, the two candidates are practically tied in the polls. Whoever wants to win must simultaneously be everything: quick-witted, relatable, visionary, religious, cool, and social media-compatible. Killer traits that are essential for winning. Here’s an overview:
I Will Flatten You
Americans love “train wrecks.” This does not mean train accidents but all kinds of disasters and difficult situations that people can get into, tearing each other apart. This is the spectacle Americans want to see on Tuesday.
The two candidates must not shy away from throwing punches. Ronald Reagan understood this better than anyone. It is unforgettable how he told his younger opponent Walter Mondale that he would not hold his inexperience against him. Or how he continually ridiculed Jimmy Carter’s arguments by saying, “There you go again,” the same old tune.
Donald Trump is also a master of personal attack. He takes down his rivals with nicknames even before they can say anything. He called Hillary Clinton “Crooked Hillary,” Joe Biden was “Sleepy Joe,” and the Republican politician Nikki Haley was “Birdbrain.” He succeeded not only in caricaturing his opponents but also in entertaining his supporters. Only with Kamala Harris did Trump hesitate for a long time. He called her “Crazy Kamala,” “Laffin’ Kamala.” Now he labels her as “Comrade Kamala” to push her into the communist corner.
Conversely, Harris has also started using this bullying strategy. Instead of calling Trump, like she did with Biden before, a great danger to American democracy, she describes him as “weird,” which makes many chuckle. And a joke is better than a hundred fact-checks, says Democratic political strategist James Carville. Who will succeed in delivering the punchline?
Carville advises candidate Harris to let Trump be Trump on Tuesday. She should let him spout his conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election, feel honored when he personally attacks her, and the more confidently she reacts, the better. For this reason, Harris’s advisors are also pushing for the microphones not to be turned off between speaking times as in the last debate. Let Trump interrupt constantly; let everyone see that he can’t control himself, that he is vulgar and disgusting.
Trump’s advisors have, of course, prevented this. Rather, they urge him to also attack Kamala Harris with substantive arguments.
On Tuesday, the one who can more confidently flatten the other will win.
I Am the Future
John F. Kennedy was one, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama also. These politicians managed to present themselves as visionaries; they stood for a new beginning. They would make the future better, bringing hope and optimism to the American people. “Yes, we can!” Obama called in 2008. And the Americans believed him.
That spirit of renewal was nowhere to be felt until summer. The majority of Americans were frustrated that old Trump and the aged Biden were running against each other again. Neither man represented a new future for the country but rather old conflicts and problems. With Biden stepping aside, one wonders: Can Harris at least establish herself as a “Change” candidate?
Harris is indeed trying to create a sort of revival of the spirit of Obama’s 2008 campaign, and she has sparked much enthusiasm among the Democratic base. However, Harris is not a new face. She was in power alongside Biden for four years and now has to defend everything that did not go well. She will have to answer uncomfortable questions about high inflation and the migration crisis. And the crucial question: Are people better off today than they were four years ago? Will she have good answers to that and clearly distance herself from the Biden era?
Trump, on the other hand, will again play his evergreen “Make America Great Again” and promise to return America to glorious times. However, he will not be specific. Except for extreme promises like creating huge deportation camps. Rather, Trump warns constantly that America will perish under Harris. Only he can save the country.
Kamala Harris’s response to the “MAGA” dystopia is her mantra-like statement: “We are not going back.” That is clever, but she will also have to explain where she wants to steer the country.
On Tuesday, the one with the better vision for America will win.
I Am the People
Donald Trump is perhaps the most fascinating phenomenon in recent American history: How was this flamboyant billionaire elected president by those Americans who felt neglected and forgotten?
The answer is: Trump was and is authentic when he warns that millions of criminals and mentally ill individuals cross the borders, when he claims that Democrats kill newborns, or when he speaks of his fear of sharks. His supporters still see him as a non-politician, someone who dares to speak the truth, regardless of political correctness. Trump became their icon, even though his life had nothing to do with their everyday reality.
Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, made the mistake of disparaging the white working class as “deplorables.” Clinton appeared aloof and arrogant. That is also why she lost.
How one stands with the people is crucial in American presidential campaigns. Joe Biden, despite his long career, remained the Joe from the steel town of Scranton, Pennsylvania. He never lost touch with ordinary people. He always addressed all Americans, including Middle America, states like Ohio, Nebraska, or Michigan.
But how authentic and relatable is Kamala Harris? She knows she has a problem in this regard. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have chosen Tim Walz, the governor from Minnesota, as her running mate. You can’t get closer to the people than Walz, a long-time teacher and football coach who is part of average America.
Harris comes from humble beginnings; her mother raised the two daughters alone, a fact she increasingly emphasizes. However, Harris has pursued a career since her law school days, first as a prosecutor and then as a politician. She hails from San Francisco, the most liberal and elitist metropolis in America.
Her new ideas for lower grocery prices or the construction of three million housing units are ultimately attempts to cozy up to the public. “I care about your problems,” she says with that. This is well received. But she needs to convey this on Tuesday night.
On Tuesday, the one who cares for the people will win.
I Am Cool
No one walked down the steps of Air Force One as casually as Barack Obama. Hardly anyone looked so good playing the saxophone as Bill Clinton, and no president was as handsome as John F. Kennedy, tanned and dressed in elegant suits. The coolness factor counts, even on Tuesday night.
In the show “The Apprentice,” Trump became an icon, even though today hardly anyone would call him cool. Still, he seems to be somehow punk. Even Johnny Rotten from the Sex Pistols sometimes wears “Make America Great Again” t-shirts. How important the support of prominent artists and other public figures is in presidential elections may be debated. Trump was not particularly popular among celebrities in 2016, nor is he this time. Many bands have forbidden Trump’s campaign from playing their songs at campaign events. That hadn’t hurt him in 2016.
Harris, on the other hand, has, like Hillary Clinton back then, half of Hollywood behind her, and mega-star Beyoncé allows her to use her hit “Freedom” as a campaign anthem. Being called a “brat” by young pop singer Charli XCX is also a nod of approval. This coolness should rub off on her.
Harris will only be able to benefit from the celebrities’ coolness if she also appears cool herself. No one can take that work away from her.
On Tuesday, the one who comes across as relaxed and confident will win.
I Believe in God
The faith of a head of state was long not a topic in the USA because presidents generally belonged to the white, Anglo-Saxon, and Protestant elite. John F. Kennedy was the first Catholic to throw his hat into the ring in 1960. He assured Protestant clergy in Houston on September 12, 1960, that he was not an agent of the Vatican. However, it is beyond doubt that presidents must be religious. An atheist as president is still unthinkable today.
Trump also identifies as a Christian. The votes of evangelicals helped him win the election in 2016, and he thanked them by appointing conservative judges to the Supreme Court, who abolished the nationwide right to abortion. Today, they are more skeptical as Trump has begun to take a more moderate line on abortion.
His position between the evangelical anti-abortionists and moderate Americans, who advocate for reasonable limits, could pose difficulties for him on Tuesday.
Kamala Harris grew up as a Hindu; her mother is from India, later got baptized as a Baptist, and belongs to a community of this Protestant church in San Francisco. However, Harris also celebrates Hindu festivals and hosts her Jewish husband Doug Emhoff’s “Seder” during Passover. As a politician, Harris has thus far largely avoided religion. Can she navigate that?
On Tuesday, the one who best represents Christian values will win.
I Dominate Social Media
In 2008, Barack Obama was the king of social networks. He used new platforms like Facebook to reach voter groups and managed to inspire first-time voters as well. But then came Donald Trump and revolutionized the medium. He used Twitter to directly address his supporters, stepping into the shoes of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who dominated radio in the 1930s with his fireside chats. Or John F. Kennedy, who was the first president to win televised debates.
The TV debate on Tuesday will be crucial also because excerpts will be shared millions of times in the blink of an eye. Ultimately, it could come down to just single sentences, a few seconds that determine the winner. Sentences that etch themselves in memory. In 2020, Biden won a TV debate with the phrase, “Will you shut up, man!” He voiced what many felt, who were irritated by Trump constantly interrupting Biden. On Tuesday, the one who dominates the media will win.
On Tuesday, the one who dominates the media will win.
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