Tuesday’s debate will last 90 minutes, but the key moments will likely last only seconds.
People often remember presidential debates for their viral moments. The energy and youth of John F. Kennedy. Ronald Reagan asking if people are better off now than they were four years ago. Donald Trump eyeing Hillary Clinton.
The debate, moderated by ABC’s David Muir and Linsey Davis, will have a unique feature among modern gatherings. Vice President Kamala Harris entered the presidential race just seven weeks ago, after President Joe Biden withdrew.
She is still largely unknown to most voters, so the impressions made on Tuesday and the video clips that went viral could leave a lasting impression, given that this is the only scheduled presidential debate this year.
Each candidate is given two minutes to answer questions, and their rival is given two minutes to respond. Candidates are then given another minute to respond further.
What has the greatest potential to create such moments? Here are four questions whose eventual answers will help gauge how the debate, which begins at 6 p.m. PDT, goes:
Who is Kamala Harris?
Until now, the public has seen the Democratic candidate almost exclusively at pre-scheduled moments, such as the Democratic Party convention last month or at campaign events.
“You get so little of her, which is why this debate is important,” said John Fortier, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington.
Trump does his best to define her. He says Harris is “dangerously liberal.” He says she was influential during the Biden administration and that she bears the blame for keeping prices high. How does Harris respond to all of this?
“She’s not very well known. This is her chance,” Fortier said.
Can Trump and Harris reach voters emotionally?
“Trump has a knack for appealing to emotions in a way that encourages listeners to ignore reason. While this isn’t necessarily a good thing, it does mean he captures and holds the attention of a wide range of viewers,” said Tammy Vigil, a professor of media studies at Boston University.
“His comments, while often incorrect or not based on facts, often feel right to people looking for a place to blame for their problems,” she said.
Will the candidates show empathy?
While Trump is a master at articulating voter fears, Harris opts for empathy by emphasizing her middle-class roots.
“I grew up in a middle-class family. We rented for most of my childhood,” Harris says on her Facebook page. “My mom saved for over a decade to buy a house. I was a teenager when the day finally came—and I can still remember how excited she was.”
According to Chris Borick, director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion, emphasizing that background could be a significant advantage for Harris.
“She has a lead over Trump right now in the public perception of her as a person and as someone who is fit to be president, so polishing her performance in a debate that highlights those attributes will be very beneficial to her candidacy,” he said.
Who will produce the most memorable line or look of the evening?
Often this is the key to success.
Harris was criticized for giving long-winded, difficult-to-understand answers to simple questions and for sometimes seeming like she was giving a sermon.
“She may be tempted to correct him so often that she fails to make her own case and argument. It could make her look like a teacher berating an ignorant student rather than a leader in her own right,” Vigil said.
“This is particularly a problem because of gendered expectations and stereotypes about women, especially those in powerful positions.”
That’s why Harris should keep her remarks short and to the point, said Amber Boydstun, a political science professor at the University of California, Davis.
“Strategically, the most important thing Harris can do is give Trump space to make bad headlines for himself,” Boydstun said.
