[9/25/24] Harris’s public appearances have been tightly scripted since President Biden exited the race and handed her the baton, and a long evening behind the debate podium with only a pad of paper, a pen and a bottle of water presents an array of uncertainties that makes Democrats nervous.

Ray Zaccaro, a Democratic strategist and former Senate aide, said Democrats are mindful that the high-stakes debate could be “catastrophic or monumental” after Biden’s campaign was derailed by the June 27 debate against Trump.

He said Democrats were already nervously anticipating this week’s debate at the height of the Democratic convention in Chicago, knowing an hour on stage could make or break a candidate who largely stayed out of the spotlight during her time as vice president.

“We were already moved on from the convention at the convention because of the anxiety of what this debate could actually turn out to look like. People are extremely anxious about her performance,” he said. “There’s a sense of real caution about expectations on her performance.”

The strategist said Harris, a former prosecutor and former senator who participated in Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing, has the tools to turn in a great performance. But he noted that sometimes a debate can turn on something as trivial as a candidate looking at his watch, as former President George H.W. Bush did in 1992, or sighing loudly, as Al Gore did in 2000.

Zaccaro said Harris has yet to flash the kind of magic in spontaneous campaign settings that made former President Obama a star in 2008. That’s partly because her campaign has carefully controlled her public appearances.

“Given how well her rollout has gone — I think there have been relatively few missteps and everything has gone according to plan — based on the current polling, it is somewhat surprising that she’s not doing better in the polls. This is a make-or-break moment for Harris,” he said.