For Ms Harris, the showdown in Philadelphia supplies a possibility for her to flesh out the main points earlier than an viewers of tens of thousands and thousands – though she can have to take action whereas below rhetorical fireplace from her Republican opponent.
This chance shouldn’t be with out dangers, nonetheless, as Ms Harris might outline herself – and her positions – in ways in which injury her electoral prospects. She has struggled previously with answering pointed questions below strain, and her reluctance to take a seat for media interviews within the opening weeks of her marketing campaign has denied her the chance to hone her linguistic chops.
Though she has tried to current herself because the change candidate on this election, the moderators – and the previous president – are prone to press her to defend the Biden administration’s file, significantly on areas the place polls present Democrats are weak, equivalent to border safety and inflation.
She may even have to elucidate why she has renounced among the extra liberal insurance policies she embraced throughout her unsuccessful bid for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. She lately has walked again her positions on a fracking ban, decriminalising border crossing and nationalising medical insurance, amongst others.
She has defined these modifications as ones made to mirror new circumstances – however they might be seen by some voters as strikes born of political expediency.