Kamala Harris and Donald Trump will face off for the first time in their political careers on Tuesday night in a televised debate that could be a turning point for both candidates, who will have to be careful about their blows.
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“We are moving away from artifice, away from choreography, away from staging, here we are swimming in a universe of the unknown, of unpredictability, all is fair and that will be decisive for what happens next,” summarized Julie-Anne Vien, managing partner at the National public relations firm.
While Kamala Harris has rather enjoyed a honeymoon during the last month with rather positive press coverage, Donald Trump has had to adjust his line of attack, which was mainly aimed at Joe Biden.
At first glance, Donald Trump has a certain advantage since this will be his seventh presidential debate, while the Democratic candidate will experience her very first situation in this context.
She will have no choice but to bet on a “home run” to convince the undecided, while many Americans admit that they do not yet know her well enough to give her their support.
“After the CNN interview, she is mainly criticized for lacking clarity in her words, in her policies, in what she wants to do. Her main challenge is to embody renewal in continuity because she is very associated with the Biden era,” Ms. Vien stressed.
“She is known for being very combative. (…) She uses silence very well and will often let her opponent get bogged down a bit before coming to hit him hard. She also has this pitbull side that we could discover in her,” she said.
On the Republican side, advisers are trying to convince former President Trump to talk about his policies and not just attack Kamala Harris.
“He is ahead when he talks about issues like the economy, inflation, cost of living, but until now he has only done so by hitting his opponent,” explained the expert.
The difficulty for both candidates in the presidential race will therefore be to manage to rally undecided voters in the seven key states, but above all to continue to mobilize their base.
