Democratic members of Congress are ditching the usual pre-debate game of lowering expectations and openly saying they expect Vice President Harris to wipe the floor with former President Trump on Tuesday night.
Why it matters: Several Democrats acknowledged that President Biden’s disastrous debate performance in June makes it difficult to take the standard tack of downplaying expectations for Harris.
- Harris “will be measured against” Biden, one senior House Democrat told Axios, adding that, unlike the outgoing president, she has “demonstrated the ability to be consistent.”
- “After the last debate, I think everybody tore up the playbook,” said Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), who predicted Harris will be “vastly better” than Biden was.
State of play: Axios spoke to more than a dozen House Democrats on Tuesday, all of whom expressed confidence in Harris.
- “She’s had to do this during her years as a prosecutor and she has shown how adept she is … during her time on the Judiciary Committee in the Senate,” said Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.).
- Former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Harris is “very smart” and “knows her stuff,” adding, “I don’t think she’s going to let Trump get away with stuff. She’s tough.”
- Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) told Axios that Harris is “going to effectively get under Donald Trump’s skin. She’s going to live rent free in his head.”
Between the lines: Rep. Jesus “Chuy” García (D-Ill.) said Biden’s debate stumbles in June “informs, I think, a lot of feelings” among House Democrats.
- “It certainly plays into expectations and how people are feeling about tonight,” he added.
Yes, but: A handful of lawmakers still came armed with at least one argument for why Trump might perform better than expected.
- “She’s going up against a guy who will be in his seventh debate … and for her this is the first. So I think he’s a hard guy to debate,” said Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) – though he still said he expects Harris to do well.
- Kamlager-Dove argued Harris is “still the underdog,” but said she is “not going to take away her shine as a debater.”
The bottom line: The senior House Democrat argued Trump’s performance is the only uncertainty of the night, giving Democrats leeway to talk Harris up.
- “I think a lot of eyes are really on Trump. Is he going to go off the rails again?” the lawmaker said, arguing there isn’t a “massive upside” for Democrats even if Harris performs well.
Trump-Harris debate upends Democrats’ expectations game (msn.com)