The Harris Campaign (Finally) Accepts Debate Rules, Panic Ensues

The Kamala Harris campaign has been forced to concede defeat in its bid to alter the debate rules for next week's face-off against former President Donald Trump. But that’s not even the best part! The campaign's failure to change the rules that had already been agreed to regarding muted microphones has the Harris-Walz campaign in a panic.

According to Politico, the Harris campaign had been working hard to prepare their candidate for the September 10 debate and were apparently counting on ABC to relent and change the rules for them. Their report described the Harris campaign as being “in some upheaval” over the failure to change the previously agreed-upon rules.

Karen Dunn, a veteran Democratic strategist leading the prep sessions and policy adviser Rohini Kosoglu, are reportedly “morose” over the decision.

Now that this isn’t happening, the campaign has to rethink their entire debate strategy—leading to a state of disarray among Harris’s debate prep team.

In response to the final debate rules, Brian Fallon, senior communications adviser for the Harris campaign, whined about the rules in a letter to ABC. Fallon wrote that the muted microphones would unfairly shield Trump from direct exchanges with Harris. “We suspect this is the primary reason for his campaign’s insistence on muted microphones,” Fallon stated.

The campaign had clearly also been trying to lower expectations for the debate as well.

But directly questioning Trump — whether about his contradictory recent statements on abortion; his familiarity with Project 2025, the hard-right policy template drawn up for a second term by conservative activists and veterans of his first administration; or anything else — may only be possible if ABC allows the candidates to engage in a dialogue that would require both of their microphones being open at the same time.

That’s a big if.

But for all the Harris team’s public and private focus on the microphones, they’re also aware that the pressure is largely on the vice president, a candidate many voters don’t know well facing off against a former president whose personality and aggression on stage are well documented.

In some early expectations-setting, top campaign aides, including senior adviser DAVID PLOUFFE in this newsletter on Tuesday, have described Harris as the “underdog” against an opponent who will be taking part in his seventh general election debate. But JIM MESSINA, an informal adviser to the Harris campaign, said a solid Harris performance could be decisive with voters trying to assess whether they can see her in the Oval Office — just as it was, Messina recalled, for BARACK OBAMA in his first 2008 debate.

So, it looks like the debate is going to happen… Of course, if Kamala’s debate prep doesn’t go well, maybe she’ll still bail.