United States: Democrats are privately voicing increasing concern about Tuesday’s debate between Vice President Harris and former President Trump, suggesting that Harris’s conduct could go a long way in defining her as a candidate.
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Four years ago, Harris performed well in the debate with then Vice-President MIie Pence, possibly most memorable for a fly that perched on Pence’s head.
Harris’s tightly scripted appearance
Harris’s public performances have been strictly scripted since Biden stepped out of the presidential race and handed the torch to her. At the same time, a lengthy night facing the debates with only a notepad, a pen, and a bottle of water poses a number of questions that Democrats do not know the answers to, the Hill reported.
According to Ray Zaccaro, a Democratic strategist and former Senate aide, Democrats are considering that the high-stakes debate could be “catastrophic or monumental” after Biden’s campaign proved a disaster on the June 27 debate against Trump.
He said Democrats were already anxious for this week’s debate on the height of the Democratic convention in Chicago, and an hour on the stage could be a make or mar for the candidate who was shadowed most of the time while she was a vice president.
He said, “We were already moved on from the convention at the convention because of the anxiety of what this debate could actually turn out to look like. People are extremely anxious about her performance,” the Hill reported.
“There’s a sense of real caution about expectations on her performance,” he added.
The strategist, who is a former prosecutor and a former senator who was involved in the Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearing, said that Harris has all it takes to deliver a good performance.
Zaccaro said Harris has yet to turn the magical light in the unplanned campaigning that was characteristic of former President Obama in 2008.
That is mainly because her campaign has tried to limit her interaction with people as much as possible.
According to him, “Given how well her rollout has gone — I think there have been relatively few missteps, and everything has gone according to plan — based on the current polling, it is somewhat surprising that she’s not doing better in the polls. This is a make-or-break moment for Harris,” the Hill reported.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a candidate with more weight on a given moment than this candidate will have at the debate Tuesday,” he continued.
As per a Democratic senator who requested anonymity, there is tension in the party as Harris awaits to speak.