Atlanta, Sep 9: From her earliest campaigns in California to her serving as President Joe Biden’s running mate, Kamala Harris has honed an aggressive but calibrated approach to debates.
She tries to blend punch lines with details that build toward a broader narrative. She might shake her head to signal her disapproval while her opponent is speaking, counting on viewers to see her reaction on a split screen. And she has a go-to tactic to pivot debates back in her favour: saying she’s glad to answer a question as she gathers her thoughts to explain an evolving position or defend a past one.
Tuesday’s presidential debate will put the vice president’s skills to a test unlike any she’s faced. Harris faces former President Donald Trump, who will participate in his seventh general election debate since 2016, for an event that will be seen by tens of millions of viewers just as early voting in November’s election starts around the country.
People who have competed against Harris and prepared her rivals say she brings a series of advantages to the matchup, even as they warn that Trump can be a challenging and unpredictable opponent who veers between policy critiques, personal attacks, and falsehoods or conspiracy theories.
“She can meet the moment,” said Marc Short, who led Republican Vice President Mike Pence’s debate preparation against Harris in the fall of 2020.
“She has shown that in different environments. I would not underestimate that in any way.” Julian Castro, a Democrat who ran for president against Harris in the 2020 primary, said Harris blended “knowledge, poise and the ability to explain things well” to stand out during crowded primary debates.
“Some candidates get too caught up with trying to be catchy, trying to go viral,” Castro said. “She’s found a very good balance.”
A former Harris aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity to talk about her approach, said the vice president views the events like a jury trial or querying a judicial nominee on Capitol Hill when she was a US senator. The idea, the former aide said, has always been to win the debate on merit while leaving more casual or piecemeal viewers with key takeaways.
“She understands that debates are about the individual interactions themselves but also about a larger strategy of offering a vision for what your leadership and style looks like,” said Tim Hogan, who led Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s 2020 primary debate preparation. Kathleen Hall Jamieson, a political communications professor at the University of Pennsylvania, said Harris makes deductive arguments but folds them into a broader narrative – the same way she would talk to a jury.
Indian-American releases song to mobilise South Asians to vote for Harris
To harness the power of Bollywood music, an Indian-American entrepreneur and a major fundraiser for the Democratic party has released a music video to mobilise South Asians in key battleground states to vote for presidential candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris in the November 5 election.
This campaign aims to connect with the diverse South Asian-American community across battleground states and key districts. (AP)
