Kamala Harris is pulling a page out of Joe Biden's book and going into hiding, at least somewhat, before her first presidential debate.
Harris has decided to stay in Pennsylvania for the next five days until she faces off in Philadelphia against the former president.
Talking Points…
- Laying low in PA
- The debate
- Analysis
Kamala Harris will be in Pittsburgh on Thursday for a campaign event, but then she is apparently going off the radar to duplicate what we saw from Joe Biden when he prepped for his debate against Donald Trump.
Harris has been forced to change her campaign strategy a bit, revisiting Blue Wall states as well as states like Minnesota where she once had a commanding lead. Since Harris topped off in these states, she has been sliding back to the point that in the latest polling, Trump is now ahead in Michigan and Pennsylvania, albeit by about 1% (but Harris had been about 3% in both states after being named the nominee).
Harris does not have any formal campaign events listed in PA after today's event in Pittsburgh, but it is a safe bet that she will make some informal stops to try to drum up support when she is not debate-prepping.
The debate will be on ABC News on September 10. To this point, ABC News and Donald Trump have not caved to Harris' demands of having notes allowed and unmuted microphones. The microphone issue came up because Harris was hoping to cut Trump off when he interrupts and talks over her during her time, but that is not going to happen.
Harris's debate plan is not to discuss policy but to try to goad Trump into personal attacks and call him out when he lies on stage. Harris will reportedly concentrate on the border wall, infrastructure, and COVID-19.
All three of these areas are dangerous for Harris because Dems blocked Trump infrastructure bills (with Harris in the Senate, mind you, so Trump should have her voting record memorized on this particular issue), they have had record-setting immigration during the Biden-Harris administration, and there were more lives lost to COVID-19 under Biden and Harris than the Trump administration. Of course, there was also censorship during the Biden administration regarding COVID, so Harris better have her facts straight. Harris has apparently listened to Democratic strategist James Carville, who suggested:
"She should let him talk over her. Not just let him, but goad him into spouting insane conspiracy theories about the previous election."
The fact the microphones will be muted will block that from happening, but Trump does need to steer clear of conspiracy theories and stick to facts when he is up there on the stage. Regarding her strategy, I am not the only one who thinks just going on attack is a bad way to go for Harris. Republican strategist Rina Shah stated:
"Independents in swing states still need and want to hear more detailed policy proposals from her.
"She will also need to hit back at Trump ... with facts, figures, and data on what he got wrong during his administration."
For me, the key to Harris's winning or losing this will be how she presents numbers. Does she go after the debunked numbers, such as Biden creating 13.5 million jobs, or does she use more accurate numbers? If she goes there, Trump will call out the inflated COVID numbers. I think Trump will win this debate, but if he allows Harris to get under his skin and turns this into an insulting contest, he could hand the night to Harris.
If I were advising Trump on this, I would have him memorize the hard numbers, no exaggerations, and tell him to brush off every attack and actually call it out as childish to make her look like a fool in the process. She wants to get him angry, and he has to keep his cool and stick to policy because his surrogates are going to be ripping her online during this debate. The American people want to know solutions, not watch two children bicker in the schoolyard. If Trump does that, he wins this, takes back the Blue Wall states, and takes home this election.
