In the latest New York Times/Siena College poll, Kamala Harris leads Donald Trump by three points. She’s made strategic appearances on the podcasts “Call Her Daddy” and “All the Smoke.” Her new direct-to-camera ad is strong.
But she hasn’t made her closing argument yet. And the best way for her to do that is in another debate. To persuade Donald Trump to join her, she should offer to hold that debate on Fox News.
Yes, time is running out, but the final 2020 debate was on Oct. 22 of that year. Yes, Trump would have to agree to do it — and based on his recent approach he probably wouldn’t — but Harris already knows that there’s no way he’ll accept her challenge to debate on CNN on Oct. 23. There’s only one network where Harris would have another opportunity to speak to 67 million people at once, so why not?
The argument against is basically that Fox would be hostile territory, but the upside could outweigh the downside and the degree of difficulty might not be much higher than a debate on another network.
By any objective measure, Harris beat Trump in their Sept. 10 debate. If there were another debate he’d almost certainly be better prepared, but Harris was effective in answering questions the way she wants to and not the way a moderator might expect. You can pretty much guess in advance what topics the candidates would be asked about: the Middle East, immigration, transgender rights, reproductive rights, grocery prices, tariffs.
Would Fox News moderators fact-check Harris more than she was fact-checked in the first debate? Probably. But if the fact-checking were anywhere close to being evenly applied, it would be a net benefit for her. And if her campaign thinks that CNN’s moderators would go a lot easier than Fox News’s, it’s hard to see why. In the June debate, President Biden was asked, among other things, “why should voters trust you” to solve the border crisis? And “what do you say to Black voters who are disappointed that you haven’t made more progress” addressing the racial health and wealth gaps? Whether you think the framing of those questions is useful or fair, the framing of the questions in a Fox News debate would be similar.
And Harris doesn’t need to throw Trump to the proverbial mat. Another solid debate would bolster the impression that she — running in her first, truncated general election — can go toe-to-toe with a former president running in his third election. Plus, there’s a narrow slice of voters who would probably give her credit for going on an unfriendly network.
Harris might prevail in November without another debate, and she might lose if there is one. But if it makes sense to debate on another network, it also makes sense to go on Fox News.
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