Kamala Harris' biggest opponent is Joe Biden

The first TV debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris is likely to have a decisive influence on the US election campaign. The Vice President's biggest opponent will probably not be Trump.

It was a good summer for Kamala Harris. Since Joe Biden announced the end of his candidacy, it has quickly become a consistent success for the Democrats. With ease and a spirit of optimism, the new candidate sparked a long-forgotten euphoria not only among her own party base. In a very short space of time, she collected more donations than any other candidate in US history. And in many polls, Kamala Harris also closed the seemingly insurmountable gap to Donald Trump.

But now summer is over. And while the first leaves on the trees in Washington are turning yellow, the Democrats are beginning to feel disillusioned. Polls, such as a recent reliable one from the New York Times, suggest that a statement made by their own campaign team is actually true: In recent weeks, the Democrats have been using the slogan “We are the underdog” to solicit donations from their supporters. Compared to the Republicans and Donald Trump, Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz are clearly the outsiders in this election campaign.

Now Donald Trump is again slightly ahead of Kamala Harris in national polls, and in many of the important states that will decide the election, the race remains clearer than the celebratory mood in August would have suggested. This may also be because Kamala Harris is much less visible than her competitor. While Donald Trump gives interview after interview, Harris has been noticeably reserved to date. The Vice President has only answered questions from CNN once, and very briefly.

Against this backdrop, the first and perhaps only TV debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris seems even more significant than it already is. It is the first time that the politicians are ever meeting in the same room. The long-time entertainer, show giant and former President Donald Trump is now an experienced duelist. Kamala Harris, on the other hand – a candidate who has not won any of the Democratic primaries – must show whether she is able to parry journalistic questions and attacks from her political opponent in front of an audience of millions.

But when Kamala Harris stands on the stage of the ABC television studio in Philadelphia on Tuesday evening at 9 p.m. (local time), that will not be the only challenge she will have to overcome. The man who could be her biggest problem in the debate is Joe Biden. The reason: Harris faces considerable challenges due to her role as his vice president. According to polls, the American population is overwhelmingly longing for political change.

Kamala Harris must therefore manage the balancing act between her loyalty to the Biden administration, of which she has been a part for three and a half years, and the need to profile herself as an independent candidate for change and the future. As Biden's vice president, however, Harris is closely linked to his political record. She will defend the successes of her own administration in the TV debate and in recent weeks. On the other hand, she must distance herself from the more controversial aspects. The high food prices, the high rents and property prices, the crisis of illegal migration – all issues where it will be easy for Donald Trump to say: Why haven't you solved these problems yourself long ago?

How should Kamala Harris present herself as the woman who will continue Biden's policies and at the same time as a voice for change? She must formulate a credible vision for the future of the country without writing off Joe Biden and thus herself. This dilemma is already evident in the fact that she consistently avoids the term “Bidenomics” in questions of economic policy and instead advocates an “economic program of opportunity” especially for middle-class families.