EXPERT Q&A

Tens of millions of voters are gearing up for the first presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, as their clash of ideologies will determine the country’s future.

Aaron Kall, the Lee H. Hess Director of Debate at the University of Michigan’s Debate Program and editor/co-author of “Debating The Donald,” said the stakes are high for both candidates with national polls indicating a close race.

“This may be the only time during the campaign the candidates will be next to each other and they must do their best to make positive first impressions while defining themselves and each other in the most advantageous ways,” he said.

What do you expect for this debate?

The first encounter between two political candidates on the same stage can generate significant anticipation and interest. It’s a unique opportunity for the audience to compare their policies, debating styles and personal demeanors side-by-side. About 50 million people watched the Trump-Biden matchup in June, but the Philadelphia debate-viewing audience should greatly eclipse this and potentially set a record.

The 90-minute event will be a crucial opportunity for both to lay out their visions and agenda for America during the next four years. Voters generally pay closer attention to presidential elections after Labor Day. Early voting begins in several battleground states in the near future.

For weeks, there has been a dispute between the campaigns about a muted mic, with only one candidate being able to speak at a time. What do you make of this impasse or is this gamesmanship?

President Biden pushed for novel debate rule changes surrounding the Atlanta debate in June. These included the lack of a live audience and the muting of candidate microphones when it wasn’t their turn to speak. This ended up greatly benefiting Trump, whose media and reality television experience prepared him well for debates hosted by various networks. He was widely criticized for interrupting Biden and moderator Chris Wallace during the Cleveland presidential debate in 2020.

The subsequent muting of microphones in future debates forced Trump to be more subdued and disciplined when not speaking. This allowed the audience to hear more content. The Harris campaign would prefer that Americans are subjected to all of Trump’s comments during the exchanges. He infamously referred to former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton as a “nasty” woman during their 2016 Las Vegas debate. He has a history of making controversial and offensive remarks in these venues.

Gamesmanship and a debate about the debate are quite common, but it seems unlikely that Harris will get her way on changing the debate rules that were agreed to in June at this late date.

What must each candidate say to sway undecided or independent voters?

Mostly partisans tune in to watch presidential debates and cheer on their preferred candidates. The number of undecided voters now is probably in the single digits. That being said, the 2016 and 2020 presidential contests were extremely close. They were decided by tens of thousands of votes in a handful of battleground states. This year is no different, as seven hotly contested swing states will determine the outcome of a historically important election.

On the debate stage, both candidates should stress their impressive biographies and experience for the job. Trump and Harris should do their best to lay out a positive and forward-looking vision for the country during the next four years. Through the answering of tough, unexpected questions, they can show they have the acumen and temperament to navigate the country through challenging times ahead. Presidential debates are unique and require a diverse array of skills to emerge victorious.

If Trump backs out of the debate, should ABC News—which is televising the event—and Harris still have something for that evening?

Trump has repeatedly threatened to back out of the debate. You can never be sure until the event is underway if it actually will happen. He skipped an Iowa primary debate in 2016 and all the Republican debates this cycle. I expect Trump to attend this debate since Harris has continued to ascend in national and battleground polls since entering the race in July. It’s an entirely different race and debate without President Biden as the opponent.

Trump also loves being the center of attention—and it will be difficult for his ego to turn down the opportunity to appear before such a large audience. In the unlikely event that he skips the debate, ABC News should host a town hall event with Harris. It wouldn’t be an adequate substitute for a formal debate, but appropriate given all the anticipation and hard work that went into planning for this high-profile event.