Presidential debate: How Harris, Trump can win or lose
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - The first and possibly the only debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump is Sept. 10 at 8 p.m. CST.
The stakes are high, but political analysts agree they’re especially high for just one of the candidates.
Who needs convincing?
The number of undecided voters is shrinking, but it’s still a good portion of moderates — maybe 17%.
And a lot of them say this debate will help them decide how they vote.
Harris has the most to gain and lose
Kamala Harris has the most to gain and the most to lose during Tuesday’s debate.
Political analysts say former President Donald Trump is a known quantity with a firm base of voters. The vice president is more of an unknown and an underdog unless she gets under Trump’s skin.
"I think she's going to push Donald Trump as a prosecutor and hope that she pushes him enough that he has a meltdown," said Hamline University political scientist David Schultz. "I really think that's the goal here."
Schultz says Trump could lose some voters with an outburst. But as it is for a lot of female politicians, analysts say Harris can’t appear to push too hard.
Where Trump can score
Trump can score points on issues like immigration and the economy, while the vice president has to separate herself from responsibility for any perceived failures by the Biden administration.
"She's got to thread a needle here," Schultz said. "She's got to project an image that she's the change agent, that she's not the status quo."
About 60% of Americans express concern about the direction of the country, but political analyst Blois Olson says there’s a path for Harris to lay out fresh ideas.
How Harris separates from Biden
"Articulating a plan, whether it be child care, whether it be tax policy," Olson said. "This is where people actually will know there is a plan."
Long-term impact
What they say may win voters for the night, but they’ll also hope for viral moments people remember when they cast ballots.
"We're not just going to talk about it today and tomorrow," Olson said. "We're only talking about it where we see in clips for weeks to come."
And a big reason for that is this is the only presidential debate the candidates have agreed to do so far.
We have two months to chew on it, with only an Oct. 1 vice presidential debate in the interim.