After President Trump and 2020 Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s bare-knuckled opening debate, eyes are now turning toward California Sen. Kamala Harris as she prepares to spar with Vice President Mike Pence next week during their first and only encounter.
Harris, Biden’s vice presidential pick, and Pence will try to abide by the No. 1 running mate rule of doing no harm when they meet for 90 minutes on Oct. 7 at the University of Utah’s Nancy Peery Marriott Auditorium in Salt Lake City for a debate moderated by USA Today’s Washington bureau chief, Susan Page.
Expectations are high for Harris, given her prosecutor background and performances in congressional hearings during her first term on Capitol Hill. And despite struggling to articulate finer public policy points in the primary, including regarding “Medicare for all,” her viral debate confrontation with Biden over race is further proof she can deliver a blow.
Harris has sought to tamp down those expectations as she studies up for the debate, with former primary rival Pete Buttigieg playing fellow Indianan Pence in mock matchups and Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine debriefing her after his head-to-head with the vice president in 2016. Former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has been standing in as Harris for Pence.
“Let me just say something. He’s a good debater. So, I’m so concerned. Like, I can only disappoint,” Harris told donors in September, laughing.
At a separate fundraiser where the host said he felt sorry for Pence because of her “toughness,” she added: “Mike Pence debates really well, so lower the expectations!”
Ed Lee, of Emory University’s Alben W. Barkley Forum for Debate, Deliberation and Dialogue, said although Harris had a “commanding presence” and an ability to put people she needs to on the defense, Pence will be a worthy opponent as someone who has spent four years softening Trump’s sharp edges.
“Mike Pence is someone who is very steady, he doesn’t have too many highs or too many lows, and I find him to be a very good communicator,” he said. “He also has this sort of folksy reasonableness around the way in which he talks about issues.”
Pence will be tested, though, because Harris may be more effective than Biden at pivoting back to the coronavirus pandemic, according to Lee. The pair are also following Tuesday’s chaotic and caustic outing by the top of the ticket.
“There is a weight that’s placed on Mike Pence and Kamala Harris to demonstrate that there is still something useful about two people meeting in the public square and having an exchange of ideas because that’s at the heart of this grand democratic experiment that we have,” he said. “That usually is not placed on a vice presidential debate.”
Paul Hayes, George Washington University’s debate director, said the Trump campaign’s attempts to manage expectations between the president and Biden were indicative of his underdog status, such as the flap this week over whether the challenger would wear an earpiece during the event. Now the same dynamics are at work for Harris and Pence.
For University of Georgia head debate coach Shunta Jordan, Harris is the stronger competitor, but Pence had recently been one of the White House coronavirus task force’s public faces.
Jordan predicted Tuesday’s debate won’t alter Harris or Pences’ strategies, with Harris not being “as meek and mild as Biden” and Pence not being as “aggressive” as Trump. But as tensions escalate, she warned “ad hominem attacks than substantive arguments” were unlikely to persuade undecided voters.
“I don’t expect either candidate to back down, but am confident in saying we won’t see the disgrace and embarrassment of [Tuesday],” she said. “I expect to hear more argumentation and refutation. I expect to hear each candidate discuss actual policy or what needs to be the priority in America moving forward.”
Among Harris’s weaknesses, Jordan named the senator’s criminal justice record and healthcare positions since it caused problems for her in the primary. Pence’s weaknesses were COVID-19, climate change, and racial unrest, she said.
2016 Democratic standard-bearer Hillary Clinton offered Harris advice during a September fundraiser, suggesting Pence would “somehow subtly undercut” her.
“She has to modulate her responses because we know there still is a double standard alive and well when it comes to women in politics,” the former secretary of state, New York senator, and first lady said at a fundraiser. “She’s got to be firm and effective in rebutting any implication that comes from the other side, but to do it in a way that doesn’t scare or alienate voters.”
Harris, herself, has hinted at her tactics, insisting she’ll outline the Biden-Harris vision for the country so voters can compare while treating Pence “with respect and the respect his office deserves.”
“But I’m also not going to stand by quietly if he, in whatever tone of voice, delivers lies,” she told donors. “Joe and I have a lot in common, and one of them is that we don’t back down from a good fight if it’s a fight worth having.”
Pence has told Fox News in multiple interviews that his aim is to lay out the Trump administration’s accomplishments and the differences between his team and their Democratic counterparts.
“In the middle of a global pandemic, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris want to raise taxes by $4 trillion. They want to stifle American energy and the American energy renaissance that’s created thousands of jobs,” he said, mentioning Trump’s promise to “rebuild” the military. “They want to have an activist court once again legislating from the bench.”
