Kamala Harris and Donald Trump will face each other in person for the first time on Tuesday when they take the stage for the US presidential debate.
Harris has turned the race on its head since she replaced President Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket in July, giving new momentum to her party’s campaign.
But while the vice president is currently 2.9 percentage points ahead of Trump nationally, according to the Financial Times poll tracker, her lead has shrunk slightly in recent days and the race for the presidency remains extremely close.
Here are five things to watch for when the candidates face off in Philadelphia at 9 p.m. ET.
Who will look more presidential?
Tuesday’s rules will follow a similar format to the Biden-Trump debate: The candidates’ microphones will be turned off while the other speaks, and there will be no live audience in the studio.
Harris and Trump will face questions from ABC anchors Linsey Davis and David Muir. They will have two minutes to respond, two minutes to rebuttal and an additional minute to debrief. Prepared notes are not allowed.
Harris will be in the spotlight because Trump is better known to voters.
“I think there’s a lot at stake for both of them, but even more so for Harris,” said Hans Noel, a political science professor at Georgetown University. “This is the first time we’ve seen her talk and defend herself directly, talk about policy, respond to Trump’s line of attack and all that.”
Noel said he will also be watching to see if Trump uses new tactics against his opponent. The former president has struggled to adapt to his new rival and has relied on personal attacks against Harris, including questioning her ethnic identity and reposting a sexist social media post.
Who will define Harris?
Both candidates will try something simple during the debate: define Harris for an electorate that knows much less about her than about Trump.
The former president is still trying to develop effective lines of attack against his opponent, but polls released over the weekend show that he may finally be able to stop her advance.
Trump has tried to portray Harris as a radical communist and political turncoat. He has also mocked her idiosyncrasies, calling her the “laughing Kamala.”
The debate is “a very big moment” for Trump, which he must make the most of, said Republican strategist Kevin Madden. “He will have 90 minutes to specifically attack Harris … and that will be better than any 30-second commercial that runs 100 times between now and Election Day.”
For Harris, the event is even more important. She already introduced herself to the public at the Democratic National Convention last month, but the debate will be an opportunity to tell voters more about her proposals.
After criticism that her election campaign was politically relatively poor, she must now convince voters of the substance of her plans.
Will Attorney Harris prosecute felon Trump?
Harris has made her experience as a prosecutor a central part of her political identity, and she was more willing than Biden to attack Trump over his criminal convictions during the campaign.
“I know Donald Trump’s type,” Harris said in her speech to the Democratic National Convention. “I’ve dealt with people like him my whole career.” She thrilled the crowds by comparing her time taking on “predators” and “con artists” to the former president’s court appearances and legal troubles.
Trump, who had just won a legal victory after the sentencing in his “hush money” case was delayed until after the election, accused Harris of being a “radical” prosecutor and a “weak district attorney on crime,” and is likely to repeat those accusations during the debate.
Whose economic vision will resonate?
Voters’ biggest concern remains the economy as high prices continue to weigh on their finances.
Harris and Trump will outline their competing economic policy visions to reduce the country’s high cost of living.
Trump wants to cut taxes, extend the 2017 tax cuts, increase energy production, cut government spending and enlist Elon Musk’s support for aggressive deregulation. He also plans to impose comprehensive import tariffs as part of a revival of his “America First” economic agenda.
Harris, on the other hand, wants to raise taxes on the wealthy and large corporations to expand the social safety net and give small business owners child care tax credits and tax breaks. She also wants to crack down on price gouging, but has not provided any specifics, raising concerns among some economists about price controls.
Trump is expected to continue to blame the Biden administration for the high cost of living, while Harris will emphasize falling inflation and the millions of jobs created during her and Biden’s tenure.
For most of the year, voters said they trusted Trump more on economic issues. But last month, a poll conducted by FT and Michigan Ross showed that had changed: More voters trusted Harris on the issue.
Who will take a stronger position on the hot topics of immigration and abortion?
Harris and Trump will seek to capitalize on their positions on two issues important to U.S. voters: abortion and immigration.
Trump is on the defensive on the abortion rights issue, struggling to define his position as he tries to balance the strongly held views of the religious anti-abortionists who form the core of his electorate without alienating moderate and independent voters who are more likely to support reproductive rights.
Harris, a strong advocate for reproductive rights, will seek to link the former president to the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe vs. Wade in 2022. The move was made possible by the appointment of three conservative justices during Trump’s presidency.
The ex-president, meanwhile, will seek to criticize the Biden administration for the influx of migrants across the US-Mexico border under its watch. He will also try to shift the blame onto Harris, who was tasked by the president with addressing the root causes of migration from Latin America.
Republican strategist Doug Heye said that “if Trump can stay focused,” when Harris says she will take action on any issue, including border security, all he has to do is “say, ‘You’ve been here for three and a half years – why haven’t you done anything yet?'”
Have your say
Kamala Harris vs. Donald Trump: Tell us how the 2024 US elections will affect you
