Donald Trump and Kamala Harris will not only debate Tuesday for the first time (and possibly the last), Fox News reports it will be the first time the two have met in person. Whether it turns out to be a heavy-weight battle or a cat-and-mouse game, the debate will weigh heavily on who spends the next four years in the Oval Office in the White House as president of the United States. To prepare, Harris spent most of the past four days in a Pittsburgh hotel, in an intensive ‘debate camp,’ which included numerous mock debate sessions with an actor playing the part of Trump, including dressing as the former president. Meanwhile, Trump spent most of last weekend at his golf club in Bedminster, NJ, taking part in less formal policy sessions with aides and allies, reports Fox News. Trump has also barn-stormed the nation at rallies and appeared on various news programs and at organized events. "Trump is prepared for every style because that's what he's been doing on the campaign trail; has been doing unscripted pressers, pull-asides, interviews," Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller told reporters on Monday. It will be a coming-out of sorts for Harris, who has done just one media interview since replacing Joe Biden as the Democrats’ presidential nominee on July 21. That interview, with her vice-president pick, Tim Walz, was on CNN, which featured softball questions from news anchor Dana Bash. According to AXIOS the No. 1 issue for Trump is to avoid racist or misogynistic asides and “give moderate/suburbanites who care about the economy and the border a ‘permission slip’ to vote for him.” In her past, Harris has said she would, among other things, ban fracking and was against building the wall on the US/Mexico border, but has recently said her “values have changed” and now favours fracking and the border wall. She will try to distance herself as far as possible from Biden, despite being his vice-president and in league with every decision made by Biden, reports Fox, adding her new slogan is a ‘new way forward’ and she has been campaigning on things she would do as president. AXIOS suggests Trump’s go-to line will be "Why didn't you already do that during your four years in office? Why didn't you convince Joe Biden, or stand up to Joe Biden, to get these things done?" With only eight weeks until Election Day (November 5) and early voting getting underway this month in some crucial battleground states, there's no denying how much is on the line in the 90-minute debate at Philadelphia's National Constitution Center, reports Fox News. "It's high, high, high stakes. This is going to be a really, really important moment in the campaign," longtime Republican strategist and veteran of numerous GOP presidential campaigns David Kochel told Fox News Digital. "I don't know if we'll ever see a debate that was more consequential than the one that drove Biden from the race, but if there is one, it would be this one." Both candidates come into the debate aiming to achieve certain goals, says Fox. “For Harris, job number one is doing no damage by avoiding major gaffes. Another goal is appealing to the remaining undecided voters in the race and neutralizing Trump's repeated accusations that the vice-president is more liberal than progressive senators, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren,” reports Fox. Maryland Governor, Wes Moore, a top Harris surrogate, told reporters on Monday he thinks the vice-president "is not going to spend her time fact checking Donald Trump. I don't think that's a useful exercise," adding “Harris is much less well-known to Americans than Trump, and needs to spend her time presenting her vision for what the future of this country is." High on Trump's to-do list is to effectively tie Harris to Biden, who's approval ratings remain well underwater as Americans continue to deal with lessening but persistent inflation, says Fox. "She can run, but she cannot hide from her tenure during the Biden administration," senior Trump campaign adviser Corey Lewandowski said Monday on Fox News’ The Story. "So, when you look at what this debates going to be, it's going to be the opportunity for Americans to see two candidates who have a fundamentally different view of what this country should look like." Republican consultant and Fox News contributor Ari Fleischer, a former White House press secretary in former President George W. Bush's administration, said Trump needs to "hit her on policy. Just like you did to Biden in the first debate. That was a disciplined, tough, policy-oriented Donald Trump. I would love to see the same Donald Trump against Kamala Harris." The rules for tonight’s debate, moderated by ABC News' David Muir and Linsey Davis, include no pre-written materials, only a pen, blank paper and bottle of water on desks and muted microphones when one of the two isn’t speaking. The debate is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. MT, with most broadcasts, on all major US networks and news networks, starting at 6 p.m.
