The Kamala Harris campaign is worried about her performance at Tuesday night's high-stakes debate with Donald Trump, after ABC News rejected her team's request to have microphones unmuted.
The Harris team is "scrambling to rewrite their playbook" at the 11th hour, Politico reported, as Democrats express concern that the debate parameters will work against the vice president.
Aides complain the rules have "handcuffed" Harris, a former prosecutor, who was planning to "object, fact-check and directly question" Trump as if they were in court.
"Trump’s worst moments in the debates are when he gets upset and snaps,” an aide to Harris in her 2020 presidential campaign said anonymously. “And they have neutered that.”
During her 2020 debate with former vice president Mike Pence, Harris memorably scolded her opponent for interrupting, telling Pence repeatedly, "I'm speaking."
With microphones muted, there will be limited crosstalk, and a greater risk that Harris gives one of her infamous "word salad" responses.
The Harris campaign believes she is inheriting a burden from Biden, who negotiated the microphone rules with Trump.
The rules backfired on Biden, who gave a disastrous debate performance in which he labored through incoherent answers. Biden ultimately was forced to suspend his campaign in July.
"It was a bad set of rules for someone who needed to be protected, who never should’ve been on the debate stage,” a national Democratic strategist said. “And now they’re stuck with it.”
Harris has spent days intensively preparing to face Trump, an experienced and unpredictable debater. Democrats have expressed worry ahead of the high-stakes event, which could tip the scales in an extremely close race.
"People are extremely anxious about her performance,” Ray Zaccaro, a Democratic strategist and former Senate aide, told The Hill. “There’s a sense of real caution about expectations on her performance.”
The latest polling has been sobering for Harris, who spent much of the summer riding a wave of positive press coverage. A New York Times/Siena College poll released Sunday showed Trump narrowly taking the lead.
Harris' aversion to scrutiny may has raised the stakes of the debate, leading some to label it a "make-or-break" moment for her.
"I don’t think I’ve ever seen a candidate with more weight on a given moment than this candidate will have at the debate Tuesday,” he added.
