House Democrats are hoping Vice President Kamala Harris pummels former President Donald Trump in the pair’s first and maybe only presidential debate Tuesday night, arguing that the vice president needs to draw a “stark contrast” between her and Trump’s lack of “substance.”
The debate, broadcast by ABC News, will give Harris and Trump the opportunity to discuss their policy stances before the Nov. 5 general election. While Trump is expected to go after Harris both politically and personally, Democrats anticipate Harris will not succumb to the former president’s attacks.
“She’s going to let that abrasiveness just brush off and speak very clearly to the American people,” Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) told the Washington Examiner. “It’s another platform for her to communicate her message and vision for her presidency.”
It’s arguable who has more to lose in the debate. A boon in fundraising, voter registration, and Zoom calls rallying support for Harris created a “honeymoon period” for Democrats. But many Republicans argued that post-Labor Day weekend and the debate will be a “reset” for Americans to determine who best can lead the White House.
The debate will give Harris a chance to present her case on how she will handle immigration and the economy, two of the largest policy matters at play in the 2024 election. Stevens said she thinks Harris will articulate a “strong vision” for the economy.
“It’s a delight to actually have a nominee who speaks about the middle class, unlike her opponent,” Stevens said.
While policy is important, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said she thinks the focus of the debate should “remain on Trump.”
“His expertise is trying to deflect from 34 felony convictions that he was dealt this year,” Ocasio-Cortez told the Washington Examiner. “His expertise is trying to really just distract and overwhelm with all of this dishonesty and false kind of claims in order to distract from the heart of who he is.”
Ocasio-Cortez said Harris should contrast Trump’s abrasive comments with a “positive vision” for the United States and avoid a “defensive position that may be sensitive to some parts of the Democratic coalition.”
The last time voters witnessed a presidential debate, they saw President Joe Biden’s old age and declining mental faculties on full display. The president eventually stepped aside after nearly 40 House Democrats called on him to withdraw from the race.
This time around, Democrats are more energized around Harris, a younger candidate with a prosecutorial record in California before she became a senator. Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar (D-CA) said during a Tuesday press conference that the debate will provide an opportunity for people to see a “stark contrast” in choice: “A seasoned prosecutor who’s going to make her case, and one who’s a felon.”
“I’m looking for Kamala Harris to kick this guy’s a**,” Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL) told the Washington Examiner. “She was a prosecutor, she comes from litigation, she comes from being in a courthouse. She understands. She gets the assignment. She’s going to deliver.”
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) echoed Frost, telling reporters that she is excited to see Trump “demolished.”
“I want to see him get his a** kicked because America deserves better,” Crockett said. “There’s only one real candidate in this race. It’s Kamala Harris, and I think that she is going to knock it out of the park.”
Frost said while “humiliating Donald Trump” will be a perk of the matchup, the debate should also focus on people learning about Harris’s agenda and “what she’s going to fight for as president.”
The Florida Democrat said he’s eager to hear her speak on housing, a specific driver of economic policy that has taken center stage in the 2024 election.
“Both parties have not done a good job, traditionally, of making housing a priority on the presidential stage in a campaign,” Frost said. “Both parties have never put forth a real platform on housing that’s been championed by the presidential nominee. But that’s all changed with Kamala Harris. It is one of the first platforms she put forth, and I think if she does that, it’ll distinguish her from Donald Trump.”
“I really want to see her hone in on that, and I know she will because she’s very personally attached to that issue,” Frost added.
When asked if Harris should be clear about her policy stances on the debate stage, Crockett said Harris will — but she shouldn’t have to. Crockett argued that Trump has not laid out policy positions.
Crockett added that she was not among the Democrats who said to “dump Biden” after polls showed his lackluster debate performance affected his numbers in battleground states and even some Democratic strongholds.
“We’ve not heard policy out of [Trump]. That was why I was really frustrated after the first debate,” Crockett said. “Because if we decide it based on substance, who won that first debate, there is no question. But people get excited about flair and bullsh**, so I think that they’ll get definitely some style, but they will absolutely get substance out of the vice president.”
Not all Democrats are hanging on to the debate as a make-or-break situation for Harris. Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-MD) said debates typically do not have much effect, attributing the gravity of the first one in June because it featured Biden and Trump.
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However, Ivey acknowledged it could help boost Harris’s chances of securing independent voters — a feat that will be critical in what is expected to be a razor-thin race. Polls over the last few weeks have shifted between Trump and Harris leading, with most showing the candidates within one or two points of one another.
“Everybody knows who Donald Trump is and what he’s about. I don’t think he’s gonna do or say much that will move voters one way or the other,” Ivey told the Washington Examiner. “I mean, it gives Kamala a chance to, I think, solidify her support, maybe compete for the undecided that are out there, independent voters. Not too many of them, but I guess we’ll see. But I’m not expecting it to be super consequential from a numbers standpoint.”
