ATLANTA (AP) 鈥� From her earliest campaigns in California to her serving as President Joe Biden's , Kamala Harris has honed an aggressive but calibrated approach to debates.
She tries to blend punch lines with details that build toward a broader narrative. She might shake her head to signal her disapproval while her opponent is speaking, counting on viewers to see her reaction on a split screen. And she has a go-to tactic to pivot debates back in her favor: saying she's glad to answer a question as she gathers her thoughts to explain an evolving position or defend a past one.
Tuesday's presidential debate will put the vice president's skills to a test unlike any she's faced. faces former President , who will participate in his seventh general election debate since 2016, for an event that will be seen by tens of millions of viewers just as around the country.
People who have competed against Harris and prepared her rivals say she brings a series of advantages to the matchup, even as they warn that Trump can be a challenging and unpredictable opponent who veers between policy critiques, personal attacks, and falsehoods or conspiracy theories.
鈥淪he can meet the moment,鈥� said Marc Short, who led Republican Vice President Mike Pence鈥檚 debate preparation against Harris in the fall of 2020. 鈥淪he has shown that in different environments. I would not underestimate that in any way.鈥�
Julian Castro, a Democrat who ran for president against Harris in the 2020 primary, said Harris blended 鈥渒nowledge, poise and the ability to explain things well鈥� to stand out during crowded primary debates.
鈥淪ome candidates get too caught up with trying to be catchy, trying to go viral,鈥� Castro said. 鈥淪he鈥檚 found a very good balance.鈥�
Balancing narrative and detail
A former Harris aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity to talk about her approach, said the vice president views the events like a jury trial or querying a judicial nominee on Capitol Hill when she was a U.S. senator. The idea, the former aide said, has always been to win the debate on merit while leaving more casual or piecemeal viewers with key takeaways.
鈥淪he understands that debates are about the individual interactions themselves but also about a larger strategy of offering a vision for what your leadership and style looks like,鈥� said Tim Hogan, who led Sen. Amy Klobuchar鈥檚 2020 primary debate preparation.
Kathleen Hall Jamieson, a political communications professor at the University of Pennsylvania, said Harris makes deductive arguments but folds them into a broader narrative 鈥� the same way she would talk to a jury.
鈥淪he states a thesis and then follows with fact, fact, fact," she said.
Jamieson pointed to the 2020 vice presidential debate in which Harris hammered Trump鈥檚 handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the economy, and to her most memorable 2019 primary debate when she skewered Biden for how he had talked about race and institutional racism. She weaved her critique of Biden鈥檚 record with her own biography as a young, biracial student in the early era of school integration.
鈥淭hat little girl was me,鈥� Harris said in a widely circulated quip that punctuated her story about court-ordered busing that helped non-white students attend integrated schools.
鈥淢ost people who are good at the deductive argument aren鈥檛 good at wrapping that with an effective narrative,鈥� Jamieson said. 鈥淪he鈥檚 good at both.鈥�
Landing memorable punches
Castro said Harris has a good feel for when to strike, a quality he traced to her trial experience. In 2019, as multiple Democratic candidates talked over one another, Harris sat back before getting moderators to recognize her.
鈥淗ey, guys, you know what? America does not want to witness a food fight. They want to know how we鈥檙e going to put food on their table,鈥� she said, taking control of the conversation and drawing applause.
When Harris faced Pence in 2020, it was a mostly civil, substantive debate. But she got in digs that framed Pence as a serial interrupter, as Trump had been in his first debate with Biden.
鈥淢r. Vice President, I鈥檓 speaking,鈥� she said at one point, with a stern look. At another: 鈥淚f you don鈥檛 mind letting me finish, we can have a conversation.鈥�
Finding traps in policy
Debates have sometimes put Harris on the defensive.
In the 2020 primary matches, Tulsi Gabbard, who this year has endorsed Trump, over how aggressively she prosecuted nonviolent drug offenders as a district attorney.
That fall, Pence made Harris sometimes struggle to defend Biden鈥檚 positions. Now, her task will be to defend not just Biden鈥檚 record, but her own role in that record and what policies she would pursue as president.
Short, one of Pence's top aides, noted that Republicans and the media have raised questions about more liberal positions Harris took in her 2020 primary campaign, especially on fracking, universal healthcare, reparations for slavery and how to treat migrants who cross the U.S. border illegally.
鈥淲e were surprised that she missed some opportunities (against Pence) when the conversation was centered around policy,鈥� Short said.
Timing, silence and nonverbal communication
One of Harris鈥� earliest debate triumphs came in 2010 as she ran for California attorney general. Her opponent was asked about his plans to accept his public pension while still being paid a salary for a current public post.
鈥淚 earned it,鈥� Republican Steve Cooley said of the so-called 鈥渄ouble-dipping鈥� practice.
Harris looked on silently, with a slightly amused look as Cooley explained himself. When moderators recognized her, she said just seven words 鈥� 鈥淕o for it, Steve. You earned it!鈥� 鈥� in a serious tone but with a look that communicated her sarcasm. The exchange landed in her television ads within days.
鈥淜amala Harris is quite effective at nonverbal communication and knowing when not to speak,鈥� Jamieson said.
The professor said Harris often will shake her head and, with other looks, telegraph her disapproval while her opponent is speaking. Then she smiles before retorting, or attacking, in a conversational tone.
鈥淪he defuses some of the argument that Trump makes that she is 鈥榓 nasty woman,鈥� that she鈥檚 engaging in egregiously unfair behavior, because her nonverbal presentation is actually undercutting that line of attack,鈥� Jamieson said.
Meeting a new challenge with Trump
For all of Harris鈥� debate experience, Tuesday is still a new and massive stage. Democrats who ordinarily tear into Trump instead appeared on Sunday's news shows to make clear that Harris faced a big task ahead.
鈥淚t will take almost superhuman focus and discipline to deal with Donald Trump in a debate,鈥� said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, yet another of Harris' 2020 opponents, on CNN. 鈥淚t鈥檚 no ordinary proposition, not because Donald Trump is a master of explaining policy ideas and how they鈥檙e going to make people better off. It鈥檚 because he鈥檚 a master of taking any form or format that is on television and turning it into a show that is all about him.鈥�
Castro noted that Trump is 鈥渁 nasty and crafty stage presence鈥� who makes preparation difficult. And with ABC keeping the candidates' microphones off when they are not speaking, Harris may not find it as easy to produce another viral moment that hinges on viewers having seen or heard Trump at his most outlandish.
鈥淭he best thing she can do,鈥� Castro said, 鈥渋s not get distracted by his antics.鈥�
Bill Barrow, The Associated Press
