Staff Reports
The upcoming debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump is shaping up to be a spectacle, but not perhaps in the way Harris might hope. It seems her campaign is already crawling with anxiety, as demonstrated by her awkward request for unmuted microphones. Unfortunately for her, ABC News has firmly rejected this request, leaving her with the same debate rules that set the stage for a previous display of Biden’s cognitive decline.
The upcoming showdown, hosted at Philadelphia’s National Constitution Center, is poised to be a nerve-wracking test for Harris. Just like during the last presidential debate, both candidates will take the stage without pre-written notes and only basic supplies: a pen, paper, and a water bottle. This means Harris will have to pull off coherent thoughts on the fly, which has often proven to be a challenging task for her. The press has been buzzing with speculation about whether she’s worried about floundering, and her attempts to tweak the rules certainly don’t inspire confidence.
One can’t help but chuckle at Harris’s desire for a “cheat sheet.” There’s a certain irony in a candidate needing lined paper and a special set of instructions for a robust debate. Amidst the social media chatter, people are taking note of her requests and poking fun at what they interpret as signs of fear and incompetence. It’s hard to determine whether she’s preparing for a debate or pulling out all the stops in a high school class presentation.
Even more amusing is the fact that Harris had already backed out of a proposed debate on Fox News, making one wonder whether she is simply collecting a series of losses in a nightmarish debate scenario. Meanwhile, old clips of Tulsi Gabbard dismantling Harris in a past debate circulate widely online, bringing back vivid memories of Harris’s less-than-stellar performance. Perhaps the newly endorsed Trump supporter Gabbard will have some words of advice as Trump prepares to take to the stage once again.
Kamala's Desired Debate Changes Rejected by ABC, Makes Debate Against Trump Even Harder for Harris via @WestJournalism https://t.co/fKEaQW9YRS
— 🇺🇸 The MAGA Train 🇺🇸 Kenneth F Crowe (@KennethFCrowe1) August 29, 2024
The reality is that viewers will likely be watching just as much for how Harris handles the pressure of the debate format as for the substance of her arguments. History shows that Harris has struggled to articulate thoughts clearly under scrutiny, a trait that has been previously dubbed a “word salad.” With the bar for performance set lower than that for Biden—who famously stumbled through every public appearance—one wonders if her campaign managers would be satisfied if she simply avoids losing track of her own thoughts in this latest undertaking. There is a clear sense of anticipation as debate day approaches, leaving many to speculate about just how much scrambling Harris will do to make even a semblance of sense.
