Will the Debate Matter in Such a Close Race?

Dan Balz: “Ever since President Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign, former president Donald Trump has been sour and on the defensive. His new opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, made clear in their scorching debate here Tuesday night that she will spend the next two months trying to keep him there.”

“If debates matter, this one should. But the overriding question in such a divided country is whether it will.”

“The final weeks of the campaign promise to be as contentious as the 90-minute encounter at the National Constitution Center and hosted by ABC News, with polls showing no clear leader and a nation hanging nervously on the outcome. If there were doubts about Harris’s ability to weather what will be a brutal stretch, they were at least partially answered with her sharp and steady performance on Tuesday. But given the state of the race, neither candidate can afford missteps or mistakes.”