On Tuesday, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris will square off in their first—and likely only—debate. After weeks of Harris avoiding unscripted moments like interviews and press conferences, this could be the best chance to see her unfiltered. For Trump, this debate is a critical moment as the election approaches, and he can't afford to waste it. His mission is simple: stay focused and make the most of this opportunity. There’s no room for error. And he has one critical job that could make the rest of the campaign smooth sailing for him.
For sure, there is far more pressure on Kamala in this debate. Since she's been hiding behind teleprompters and Tim Walz for the past several weeks, she really needs to use the opportunity to introduce herself to the voters who are now paying closer attention to the campaign. And that's a vital weakness that Trump must be able to exploit.
The latest New York Times/Siena poll gives us a roadmap for what Trump needs to do. The poll itself was rather devastating for Kamala Harris, as it showed that despite all the glowing coverage she's received and all the money she has spent, Trump holds a narrow lead in the national match-up. The poll found that Trump is at his highest favorability rating ever in polling, voters trust him on the issues that matter most in this election, voters want change, and an overwhelming majority of voters see him as the candidate of change.
It's nice to see Donald Trump up, even if by a small margin in this poll, but we knew he'd rebound after the Kamala Harris' honeymoon ended.
In his coverage of the poll, Nate Cohn of the New York Times revealed what I think is the crucial detail, especially with the upcoming debate on Tuesday.
Related: Kamala's Panicking About The Debate Rules, And It's Her Own Fault
"Despite a month of favorable coverage, voters still don’t know enough about [Kamala Harris]: 28 percent of voters said they needed to learn more, compared with only 9 percent who said the same about Mr. Trump.," he wrote. "More than anything, voters say they want to hear more about where she stands on the issues, something her campaign has seemed to struggled [sic] to lay out."
In other words, Trump needs to use this debate to define Kamala Harris before she has a chance to define herself. With less than two months before the election, voters still don’t know much about her, and that’s a vulnerability Trump can’t ignore.
By pressing her on her lack of clear positions and linking her to the failures of the Biden-Harris administration, Trump can expose her as unprepared and incapable of handling the challenges of the presidency. Kamala has the most to lose in this debate, and that means it is Trump's chance to show voters who she really is. If Trump can control the narrative of the debate by framing this election as a referendum on the Biden-Harris administration and proving she can't distance herself from it, it will resonate with voters who are still undecided, giving him an edge going forward.
Harris has gotten a free pass from the media on critical issues like crime, immigration, and the economy, and Trump needs to call her out on it. She’s avoided tough questions and stuck to rehearsed lines, but she can't bring a teleprompter to the debate.
If he fails to do so, it will be an extraordinary missed opportunity.
