Vice President Harris has used debates as turning points throughout her political career. On Tuesday, she faces her biggest debate challenge yet.
It’s been more than 20 years since Kamala Harris first started preparing for political debates. But the parallels between that first race and this current run for the White House have some striking similarities.
When Harris ran for district attorney of San Francisco in 2003, she faced a short election timeline in the primary race. She was up against two opponents, including incumbent Terence Hallinan, who were more well-known than she was. Plus, Hallinan, just like Harris’ current opponent, former President Donald Trump, had a tendency to mispronounce her first name.
In that 2003 primary, Harris needed a standout moment to put her on the map and help introduce her to voters.
“We were the underdog. We were running up the middle,” said Rebecca Prozan, Harris’ campaign manager in that race.
“Two entrenched candidates. San Franciscans didn’t know her as well as they knew the others », Prozan said. « And coming with the background she came from, she had to outdo both, and not just outdo them — she had to mop the floor with them.”
There were at least a dozen debates in that primary. But at the one held at the James Lick Middle School auditorium, Harris had her moment.
Harris was asked about San Francisco’s mayor, Willie Brown, whom Harris had once dated. It could have been a moment to answer the question in a personal way, but Harris pivoted. She used the question as an opportunity to call out her opponents’ negative attacks on each other. Hallinan had recently been calling out their other opponent, Bill Fazio, for getting caught in a massage parlor during a raid, for example.
Harris stood on stage between the two men and said she would make her campaign about the issues voters cared about. The audience loved it.
The moment, Prozan said, put Harris’ opponents “on notice” and sent a message: « You’re not going to push me around. I’m here. I’m running. I’m going to win,” Prozan said.
Harris went on to beat Fazio in the runoff election, and later defeated Hallinan in the primary.Harris honed her debate skills during her time as a courtroom prosecutor
In her runs for office since, Harris has used debates to elevate her candidacy — not necessarily because of her debate performance overall, but often because of punchy one-line retorts and quick reactions to what her opponent has said.
