Democrats' fortunes look up after first Harris-Trump debate

Point-scoring contest

It was the first time Trump had met with Harris since she secured the nomination, and while the two candidates began the event with a civil handshake, it quickly descended into a robust point-scoring contest, with both candidates striving to gain the upper hand over their rivals on their preferred topics.

From the outset, it was clear that Harris, formerly a career lawyer who served as California's attorney general, aimed to use her courtroom prosecutorial style to needle Trump, a notoriously thin-skinned politician.

On several occasions, Harris clearly riled Trump by criticising his stand on various issues, such as the vexed issue of migration, where she claimed that the former president was more interested in campaigning on the issue than trying to fix it.

Arguably, her most provocative attack on Trump came when she claimed that his much-acclaimed political rallies were no longer attracting mainstream support. She invited viewers watching the debate to attend a Trump rally because "what you will also notice is that people start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom".

The comment provoked a furious response from Trump, who retaliated by declaring, "First, let me respond to the rallies. She said people started leaving. People don't go to her rallies. There's no reason to go ... People don't leave my rallies. We have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics."

By contrast, Trump focused his main attack on Harris by ridiculing her stance on numerous policies, from fracking to supporting calls to defund the police, saying: "Everybody's laughing (at her)".

"She gave up at least 12 and probably 14 or 15 different policies," he said.

Trump maintained his attack by denouncing Harris as "a radical left-liberal", accusing her of supporting progressive efforts to defund police departments in Minnesota following the death of George Floyd in the state in 2020.

While Trump's forthright approach clearly worked during June's debate with Biden, who became more rattled as the discussion progressed, Harris received praise for her calm handling of Trump's onslaught, even if she remained evasive on key questions, such as the Biden administration's handling of the economy.

Foreign policy was another important issue on which the two candidates traded blows, with Trump accusing the Biden administration of spending $250bn after Russia's invasion of Ukraine while not forcing European countries to match the spending. Harris responded by saying that world leaders laughed at Trump and that if he had still been in the White House, Russian President Vladimir Putin would now be in Kyiv.

Formidable opponent

While the debate ended with neither candidate landing a decisive blow against their adversary, the one clear takeaway from the event is that Trump faces a formidable opponent in Harris in his bid to secure a second term in the White House.

While the polls have Trump and Harris neck and neck in the contest, Trump will be concerned that the campaign momentum is moving in favour of Harris, especially after she received the endorsement of global pop star Taylor Swift immediately after the debate ended. If the assured Harris can continue to attract the support of high-profile backers such as Swift, she will certainly stand a realistic chance of beating Trump for the presidency.