During a crucial debate in the 2020 US presidential election, one candidate seemed to dominate the stage. He interrupted his rivals at strategic moments, sometimes speaking over them.
He went head-to-head with an opponent, Joe Biden, generating headlines for days and causing some to wonder whether he had violated some sort of unspoken political decorum.
That candidate, however, was not Donald Trump. It was Kamala Harris.
Harris will once again take to the debate stage on Tuesday. But this time, having taken it a step further by becoming the Democratic presidential nominee, she will face Trump in a duel that poses the toughest challenge of her campaign so far.
Debates have played a pivotal role in Harris’s political career.from her bid for California attorney general to her rise to the vice presidency. Rewatching four of their key debates, it’s clear that Harris knows when to steal the spotlight — but also when to stand back while a rival takes a hit on herself.
Harris is banking on using these instincts against Trump, who is notoriously combative. Her campaign will also want to allay longstanding concerns about her public speaking skills that began with her failed 2020 White House bid, and were only sharpened by her clumsiness in some interviews in recent years.
There is no room for errorsince these events are defined by viral clips, it’s as important for Harris’s campaign to avoid stumbling as it is for her to land a high-profile blow on her rival.
“You have to stand your ground,” says Aimee Allison, founder of She The Peoplean organization that supports minority women in politics. “And she has to communicate on the debate stage what she is fighting for.”
Harris and his nose for opportunities
In her early debate appearances, Harris had success letting her opponents dismantle themselves.
In a 2010 debate for California attorney general, moderators asked Harris and her Republican opponent, Steve Cooley, about a controversial practice known as double-dippingwhich allows a public official to collect both a salary and a pension.
“Do you plan to collect both your pension and your salary as attorney general?” a moderator asked the candidates.
“Yes,” Cooley replied. “I’ve earned it.”
For a while, Harris said nothing as her rival defended her position.
“Go ahead, Steve,” she replied. “You’ve earned it!”
Harris’s campaign included the moment in an ad calling Cooley old-fashioned. Harris won the election by a narrow margin.
And during a 2016 debate for a U.S. Senate seat from California, Harris’s opponent inexplicably ended her closing remarks with a daban arm movement that was popular at the time among young people.
Harris, who looked bemused, waited a few moments before replying: “So there is a clear difference between the candidates in this race.”
Voters have once again supported Harris.
Both examples demonstrate Harris’s nose for opportunity on the debate stage.as well as their sense of when it is best to take a step back.
“I think he’s someone who uses silence incredibly well,” said Maya Rupert, a Democratic strategist who worked on the 2020 presidential campaigns of Julián Castro and Elizabeth Warren.
What are your weak points?
Entering the national scene, Harris proved adept at reclaiming the floor. One of his tried-and-true tactics is to openly declare his intention to speak, forcing his opponents – and the audience – to listen.
The 2020 vice presidential debate is best remembered for one thing she said to Mike Pence when he began interrupting her: “Mr. Vice President, I’m speaking.”
And just a few weeks ago – illustrating that the retort was more than a one-off – Harris used the same line to the Gaza protesters who disrupted her rally in Detroit. “I’m talking now,” she told them. “If you want Donald Trump to win, say so. If not, I’ll talk.”
“She’s applying something that many black women have used effectively, which is to insist on her time, and to insist on being heard,” Allison said.It is very effective in ensuring that you are heard and respected.“.
But perhaps her most memorable debate moment came in 2019, when Harris – then a U.S. senator – stopped speaking during the Democratic primary debate in Miami to question Biden about his past stance on a policy known as bussing.
Harris criticized Biden for working with lawmakers who opposed the civil rights-era policy of busing students to schools in different neighborhoods in an effort to address racial segregation.
“There was a little girl in California who was in the second class to integrate into her public schools, and she was bused every day,” Harris said.
He paused before telling Biden: “And that girl was me”.
Nina Smith, who was then presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg’s traveling press secretary, said the moment made rival campaigns sit up and take notice.
“What he showed us as a team is that if he sees an opportunity, he’s going to go for it,” Smith recalled to the BBC.I think that made her an expert at debating.”We were very aware of any unexpected blows that Senator Harris could deliver.”
“He demonstrated his ability as a prosecutor… to highlight the weaknesses of his opponents,” he added.
By the end, Harris had spoken more than any other candidate except Biden. Her campaign announced it had raised $2 million in the 24 hours after the debate.
Yet despite the big gain and subsequent surge in the polls, Harris struggled to articulate her own position on busing. This only served to underscore the problems with her message and raise questions about her ability to articulate a coherent policy position.
The episode was one of many missteps by Harris that ultimately sunk her first presidential bid. His inability to articulate a coherent political agenda was one of the most cited reasons.and this is a question she needs to clarify in this new debate, when she will almost certainly be pressed on specific political issues.
What’s at stake
For years, Republicans have reposted clips of Harris’ public remarks to ridicule her style and call her inept. She has used bombastic phrases when speaking off the cuff, and while some of her turns of phrase have been welcomed by her supporters, Her opponents have often criticized her for her lack of clarity.
In a recent interview on CNN, her first since becoming a candidate, she gave an answer on climate change that illustrates this issue. “It is an urgent matter that we must apply parameters to, including meeting deadlines,” Harris said.
In a debate, speaking time is limited and clarity of message is crucial.
The ABC debate will be her biggest opportunity to reorient public opinion. Past debates show that Harris typically brings a sharp set of tools to these events and is capable of delivering blows.
But the pressure of those past encounters was minor compared to what will be at stake when he comes face to face with Trump for the first time.
Even for the most experienced politicians, Trump represents a formidable challengestrategists agree. In a 2016 debate against his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, he famously stalked her around the stage, drawing all the attention to himself.
Trump’s first debate in 2020 against Biden turned into an unintelligible melee with the Republican constantly interrupting. At one point, Biden became so irritated that he snapped: “Will you shut up, man?”
“Donald Trump is a unique and special case in which you never know what will happen.“said Smith, who has prepared Democratic candidates for such events. “In preparation, I would not allow her to get comfortable, so that she would develop some sort of instinct, or insensitivity, to anything that might come up.”
Harris, as a former prosecutor, is adept at debate-stage exchanges. It’s something she’s also demonstrated during heated Senate hearings, when she’s questioned Trump officials and Supreme Court nominees.
But the format of the upcoming ABC debate may limit her ability to showcase her skills as a prosecutor, as microphones will be muted when it is the other person’s turn to speak.
This means, based on the Biden-Trump debate in June that had the same rules, that it is likely will have to answer tough questions from moderators instead of confronting Trump.
And when Harris is on the receiving end of prosecutors’ questions, she has stumbled in the past, such as in a notorious 2021 interview with NBC News’ Lester Holt in which she struggled when pressed on the issue of illegal immigration.
One stumbling block Rupert could foresee for Harris’s camp is that his candidate gets drawn into a lengthy debate over the facts with Trump. That could cloud the encounter for voters and leave viewers with the impression that he has dominated the conversation.
He suggested a third tactic that Harris could add to his arsenal: not to judge or remain silent, but to ignore.
“He has a great opportunity to express his point of view,” Rupert said, “and not be burdened by what he is doing next to him.”
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