Kamala Harris and Donald Trump will face off in their first and possibly last televised debate on Tuesday, in a potentially decisive moment for a successful 2024 US presidential election.
The stakes could hardly be higher for the Democratic vice president and the Republican former president as tens of millions of American voters tune in to see them finally face off.
A single witty remark or gaffe could tip the balance of one of the most dramatic White House races in U.S. political history, with the two rivals tied in the polls less than two months before Election Day.
For Harris, 59, it will be a crucial opportunity to win over voters who still know little about her as her honeymoon begins to fade after suddenly replacing President Joe Biden in July.
Trump, 78, meanwhile, will try to corner Harris on issues like the economy and immigration, but may also unleash more of the racist and sexist insults he has directed at her during the campaign.
The two candidates will also meet in person for the first time at the ABC News debate in Pennsylvania, raising the potential for a tough confrontation.
“This debate may go down in history. Get out the popcorn,” said Andrew Koneschusky, former press secretary to U.S. Senate leader Chuck Schumer.
'Without ground'
Harris, the first Black and South Asian vice president of the United States, arrived in Philadelphia on the eve of the ABC News debate after spending five days holed up in a hotel doing intense practice sessions.
One of his aides is even said to have dressed in a boxy suit and long tie, Trump style, so he could get used to delivering his best lines against his opponent.
Trump's team said the president has taken a more relaxed approach ahead of his seventh presidential debate, choosing to arrive in Philadelphia just hours early and limiting his preparations.
The debate may lack the large-scale shouting matches of previous years, as both candidates' microphones will be muted when not speaking, at the request of Trump's team.
But it will still be a potential turning point, as well as a contrast of styles.
In one corner is a former prosecutor who has in the past delivered cold-blooded criticism of his debate rivals, including Biden himself and Trump's former vice president, Mike Pence.
“There's no limit to how low he can go,” Harris said in a radio interview broadcast Monday. “He'll probably tell a lot of lies.”
'Like a boxer'
In the other corner is Trump, the most brutal knife fighter in American politics, who has been convicted of falsifying business records to cover up a porn star scandal and is accused of trying to overturn the 2020 election.
“You can't prepare for President Trump,” said spokesman Jason Miller. “Imagine a boxer trying to prepare for Floyd Mayweather or Muhammad Ali.”
Harris, in many ways, is the one who has a lot to prove in the debate.
His campaign suffered a setback over the weekend when a major New York Times/Siena poll showed Trump leading 48 to 47 percent, with the two candidates effectively tied in a half-dozen key swing states.
She will be under pressure to explain her so-far vague political manifesto to voters, who the NYT poll found need to know more about her.
Trump, a former reality TV star, is by far the most experienced presidential debater, with six debates under his belt, but undecided voters may be put off if he insults the candidate seeking to become the first female president of the United States.
Trump is still reveling in the fact that his last debate opponent, Biden, 81, performed so disastrously that he was forced to withdraw from the race.
