Decryption | Kamala Harris’ debates

(New York) Joe Biden has settled once and for all one of the eternal questions of American politics: can presidential debates be decisive? After his calamitous performance in the June 27 debate in Atlanta, the president provided an unequivocal answer by withdrawing from the race for the White House.

On Tuesday, Kamala Harris, her boss’ successor at the head of the Democratic Party’s presidential ticket, will in turn take part in a debate deemed crucial by her camp and that of her Republican rival, Donald Trump. She will obviously be having her first experience of this kind as a presidential candidate, while the former president will be in his seventh.

What kind of performance can we expect from the vice president, whose opponent already has a well-known style as a debater? The answer may lie in the debates that have marked her political career so far. One thing is certain: Donald Trump has been taking notes.

“She’s a mean person. The way she treated Mike Pence was horrible,” he said in an interview that aired on Fox News on May 1.^er last September.

It may seem surprising that the former president would take pity on his former vice president, whose fate did not seem to move him when some of his supporters called for him to be hanged on January 6, 2021.

“I’m speaking”

But the Republican presidential nominee was referring to a specific moment in the 2020 vice presidential debate. As Mike Pence tried to interrupt, Harris turned a stern look on him and said in a firm voice: “Mr. Vice President, I am speaking. I am speaking.”¹

The clip of the exchange quickly went viral on social media, nearly eclipsing the image of the black fly that landed on the vice president’s white hair during the debate. Four years later, the vice president’s female supporters still show up to her rallies wearing T-shirts that read “I’m speaking.”

Does this make Kamala Harris a “nasty person” (the vice president is obviously not the first woman Donald Trump has called “nasty”)? Does it mean the vice president treated Mike Pence “horribly”?

The answer seems obvious: Donald Trump has no intention of finding himself in the same position as Mike Pence, glared at and muzzled by Kamala Harris.

But the Democratic candidate can also gain the upper hand on an opponent by remaining silent. In 2010, she used this tactic to good effect against Steve Cooley in a debate in a very tight race for California attorney general.

Toward the end of the debate, one of the reporters asked the Republican candidate whether he would cash in his generous pension as a former Los Angeles district attorney in addition to his salary as California attorney general if he were elected to that post.

“Yes,” he answered without hesitation, before glancing at Kamala Harris.

The Democratic candidate remained silent.

Steve Cooley continued, putting the noose around his neck with two sentences too many.

“I’ve earned it. I’ve earned the pension rights that I have, and I’ll certainly rely on those rights to supplement the very low, incredibly low salary that the attorney general gets.”

Asked to react, Kamala Harris said, bursting into laughter: “Go ahead, Steve! You deserve it!”

But she quickly exploited the Republican’s response in an ad that is still talked about today and likely played a determining role in the outcome of the election.²

Preparation and distribution

It’s fair to say that her experience as a prosecutor has taught Kamala Harris the value of silence in the face of a defense witness who is sinking himself. That experience as a prosecutor is also evident in her preparation for the trial, where she comes armed with data and lines of attack, as well as in her ability to quickly seize upon an opponent’s mistake.

But she is also known for toga effects that can help her in the short term and backfire later.

The most famous example of this paradox occurred on June 27, 2019, the date of the first debate between the candidates for the Democratic nomination for the 2020 presidential election.

Kamala Harris took the opportunity to attack the front-runner in the race, Joe Biden. She criticized him in particular for having voted in the 1970s with two segregationist senators against the use of federal funds to end racial segregation in public schools through “busing.” This practice consisted of promoting racial mixing by sending children to a different school from the one in their neighborhood.

“There was a little girl in California who was part of the 2^e class to be integrated into a public school [hors secteur]and she rode the bus every day. That little girl was me,” Kamala Harris said in a viral speech.³

The California senator had taken off in the polls after this debate. But she had not been able to maintain her new support, failing to explain her positions clearly on several subjects, including “busing”.

She faces a similar situation today. Facing Donald Trump and ABC News reporters, she will have to clarify or explain her current positions, many of which have changed since her first presidential campaign. She will also have to defend the Biden administration’s record, particularly on the economy and immigration.

Needless to say, Kamala Harris did not expect to participate in such a debate two months ago. At the same time, she has been preparing for it for at least five years. Here is what she said during a debate between Democratic presidential candidates in July 2019:

“What we need is someone who is going to get on the stage with Donald Trump and defeat him by being able to present the case against four more years of [à la Maison-Blanche]. And let me tell you, we have a long criminal record.”

At the time, Kamala Harris used the phrase “rap sheet” figuratively. On Tuesday, the former prosecutor will have to decide whether she wants to give it a literal meaning as well.

1. Watch a clip from the 2020 Harris-Pence debate

2. Watch the ad from the 2010 Harris-Cooley debate

3. Watch Kamala Harris attack Joe Biden during a 2019 debate