Harris Versus Trump: Playing For All the Marbles

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It’s the political equivalent of a high-wire act without a net. Ninety minutes of live primetime television with tens of millions of Americans watching. And it comes at T-Minus 56 days and counting till Election Day, too.

In a presidential election that’s hold-your-breath close, there’s no margin for error. There is no second chance to recover from a major gaffe. It is playing for all the political marbles — and playing for keeps, too.

As a result, the stakes will be through-the-roof high when vice president Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump meet for the first time in a Philadelphia television studio on Tuesday night.

Democrats are downright giddy with anticipation, believing they have finally found their long-sought Trump dragon-slayer. As September rolls into full swing, they’re daring to go big – with increasingly hopeful talk of running the table by winning the presidency and both chambers of Congress in one fell swoop.

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For Republicans, it’s a proverbial ‘Maalox Moment,’ a tense waiting game to see if the once and possibly future president will be able to blunt Harris’ surprisingly consistent momentum. The lead in the polls Trump enjoyed much of this year has evaporated as summer prepares to give way to fall. The GOP sees this as a defining moment: If the brakes aren’t slammed on Harris’ campaign acceleration now, the odds against it happening will spike overnight.

At stake in this “high noon” showdown? Two stark directions for America’s future, with two drastically different courses of action being proposed by the candidates.

On top of all that, as of this writing there are no plans for a second Harris-Trump debate. The last time there was just one debate between the Democratic and Republican presidential nominees was in 1980, when Jimmy Carter faced Republican challenger Ronald Reagan on October 28. Reagan fired off many memorable zingers including, “there you go again,” and the famous question “are you better off now than you were four years ago?”

Exactly seven days later, he mopped the floor with Carter in a 44-state landslide.

While no additional presidential debates are in the works, the two major party vice presidential nominees are scheduled to face off on October 1, 2024, meaning it may be up to the running mate to do damage control if their boss seriously stumbles Tuesday night.

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How have Harris and Trump been preparing for this potentially make-or-break event? True to form, in radically different styles. Harris has spent five days hunkered down inside a Pittsburgh hotel for debate camp. Team Harris went all-out getting her ready by constructing a mock studio complete with full TV lighting and a Trump stand-in dressed in his trademark bulky suit and red tie.

Transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg said Harris will need to maintain “almost superhuman focus” throughout the 90-minute debate.

Meanwhile in Trump World, they’ve called it “policy time” rather than the traditional “debate prep.” There has reportedly been much batting possible questions and answers back and forth across a table – plus watching a rerun of Harris’ acceptance speech at last month’s Democratic National Convention thrown in for good measure. 

That seemingly casual approach to a debate carrying such significant consequences has some observers wondering if Trump will be fully up to speed on Tuesday night.

“I hope he won’t go in planning to wing it,” one nervous GOP strategist told us.

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Several sources close to Trump say the public laissez-faire approach is just an act; in reality, the 45th president has been preparing longer and harder than he ever did in 2016 and 2020.

Trump has one advantage over Harris, and it’s a biggie. This will be his seventh debate as a presidential nominee. It will be Harris’ first. Conversely, Trump’s advantage also carries a major weakness: Staleness. When you’ve seen the same movie six times before, you know what’s coming.  

Presidential politics is America’s ultimate spectator sport. Just like a baseball team heading into the pennant drive or a major college football team about to face its arch-rival, there’s no shortage of Monday morning quarterbacks bloviating on what must be done. From water cooler chatter to the Beltway punditry, a rush of unsolicited advice for both candidates is flowing like the Mississippi River in flood stage today.

One person who has stood at the podium and felt the moment’s intense pressure is Hillary Clinton, who passed along this helpful hint to Harris: “She should not be baited; she should bait him.” (But then, getting debate tips from Hillary Clinton is like taking sailing lessons from the captain of the Titanic.) 

Yet when all the well-intentioned “here’s what you must do” suggestions fade away, Democrats and Republicans alike share a common wish for their candidate: Win.

Because on that debate stage Tuesday night, the words of the late UCLA Bruins’ football coach Red Sanders will ring truer than ever: “Winning isn’t everything. It’s the only thing.”

Tuesday’s debate is scheduled to begin at 9:00 p.m. EDT. ABC News’ David Muir and Linsey Davis will serve as moderators.  The exchange will be streamed live by ABC News, Disney+ and Hulu.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…

J. Mark Powell is an award-winning former TV journalist, government communications veteran, and a political consultant. He is also an author and an avid Civil War enthusiast. Got a tip or a story idea for Mark? Email him at mark@fitsnews.com.

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