Up until recently, a Black and Indian woman as president of the United States seemed wildly out of reach. The United States has only ever had one Black president, Barack Obama – it has never had a female president.

But less than a month from now, that could change. Kamala Harris, already the first Black and Indian woman to become vice-president of the United States, may soon become president. After taking over as presidential candidate for the Democratic Party, Harris has led a successful campaign. Most recently, she stood her ground against Donald Trump during the recent Presidential debate, which took place in Philadelphia, on September 10th.

The Presidential debate can make or break a presidential candidate. President Joe Biden's poor performance during the debate in June would eventually lead to him dropping out of the election. For Harris, it has helped solidify her position as a strong candidate for president.

The Candidates

Kamala Harris, the presidential candidate for the Democratic Party, has a background in law. She has held numerous notable legal positions, including District Attorney of San Fransisco and California's Attorney General. From there, she served in the U.S.

Senate, and was eventually selected by President Biden as VP. After President Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race, he endorsed Harris as the Democratic Party's new presidential candidate.

Image Credit: Lawrence Jackson from Wikimedia Commons

Donald Trump, the presidential candidate for the Republican Party, already served as president of the United States from 2017 to 2020. He has a background in business. Even before running for president in 2016, Trump was well known due to his various real estate projects and reality TV show “The Apprentice." He has experienced numerous controversies, including being the only president to be impeached twice.

Image Credit: Library of Congress from Unsplash

The Debate

Some of the most notable issues addressed during the debate include the economy, immigration, and abortion.

To address economic issues, Harris described her plan for an “opportunity economy”, emphasizing the need to lift up America's working and middle class. This plan includes tax deductions, distribution of housing, and creating job opportunities. Trump, on the other hand, said that if elected, his economic approach would be based on putting “America First", proposing across-the-board tariffs.

When asked why, under the Biden Administration, there had been inaction concerning illegal border crossings, Harris claimed she had tried to pass a bill to help address this issue, which did not pass. She suggested this was due to Donald Trump's involvement, and that he did not actually want to fix the issue at hand. Trump, in turn, attacked the Biden Administration, and claimed that it had allowed illegal immigrants to harm Americans.

He claimed some of these immigrants were eating Americans' pets. The ABC moderator present said this information was fact-checked and found to be untrue.

Finally, the debate addressed the topic of abortion. Trump defended his role in the overturning of Roe v Wade abortion protections, describing abortions as “executions”, and claiming he did believe in exceptions to abortion bans, such as in cases of rape. He said he only overturned Roe v Wade because it was what the people wanted.

Harris contested this, saying that in numerous states, due to the overturning of Roe v Wade, it is illegal for women to have abortions even in cases of rape. She argued that it was not what the people wanted at all.

Image Credit: Office of Senator Kamala Harris from Wikimedia Commons

Who Performed Better?

The general consensus is that Harris performed better. According to a poll by ABC, 58% of voters thought Harris won.

For many of the issues discussed in the debate, she took an offensive position, forcing Trump into a defensive one. For example, on the issue of the economy, she attacked Trump's tariff plan, labeling it the “Trump sales tax". Consequently, Trump was forced to defend his plan, giving him less of an opportunity to attack the inflation and other economic issues which took place under the Biden Administration.

On the topic of immigration, Harris should have been on the defensive, as the Biden Administration had failed to properly regulate illegal border crossings. But after she attacked Trump by claiming people leave his rallies because they are exhaustive and pointless, he was once again forced to defend himself. Many moments like this took place during the debate.

How Were Voter Perspectives Impacted?

According to polls by CNN, 63% of registered voters thought Harris performed better than Trump during the debate. Before the debate, only 50% of registered voters thought Harris was likely to do a better job. According to the same polls, voters' opinions of Trump before and after the debate were not heavily impacted, with his favorability remaining at 39%, while Harris' favorability increased from 39% to 45%.

Conclusion

Overall, the presidential race between candidates Harris and Trump will be an incredibly close one. During the debate, Harris demonstrated her strength as a candidate. Whether this will be enough for the American people remains to be seen. We will all have to wait until election day on November 5th to find out!