How Trump and Harris can win -- or lose -- tonight's debate

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

74% : There's a pretty high bar for President Trump, which is interesting, because the Democrats have tried to lower the bar for Kamala Harris and raise the bar for Trump simultaneously -- they say he's a great debater and that he should do well, and I expect he will.
70% : A win for Trump is to appear as presidential as Trump can be and clearly define her.
55% : As for expectations, Trump has proven to be very predictable -- we pretty much know what he's going to do and how he's going to act.
51% : She's never been in a room before with Trump -- if she can deliver a strong performance and stand up to him she'll get another bump.
50% : And if she does that with Trump, I hope his reaction would be a little softer than he's used to.
50% : Because it's so easy to spend the time responding to Trump, but not driving the narrative or projecting what you want the people to know and remember about your agenda.
45% : Mike Dennehy, New Hampshire-based GOP strategist who worked on John McCain's presidential bids:Everyone is looking for Trump to contain himself.
43% : Anthony Coley, former senior official in the Biden Justice Department:Trump knows the debate stage well.
37% : Harris not only has to parry Trump -- and avoid getting dragged into a name-calling contest if he goes there in tonight's debate.
36% : Here are there responses, edited for length and clarity:Tricia McLaughlin, Republican consultant who worked on Vivek Ramaswamy's presidential bid:I'm watching to see if Trump can stay on message and if he can just talk about policy -- namely the economy -- and avoid any personal attacks.
36% : Celinda Lake, president of Lake Research Partners and a Democratic pollster who worked with the Biden campaign:The No. 1 thing I'll be looking for is how much Trump can control himself.
36% : A win would mean that, after the debate, higher percentages of people are more likely to trust Harris over Trump on the economy and are more optimistic about the future of the country under her leadership.
28% : Faiz Shakir, adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.):The contrast with Trump on the economy is critical for late deciders.
26% : As a result, political pundits have lowered expectations, speculating Trump will go off script, go off message, or say something out of line.
22% : Amy Tarkanian, Republican strategist and former Nevada GOP chair who is not supporting Trump:Trump needs to have good manners.
21% : Reminding people of the stakes of the election, of the chaos that Trump brings, of the uncertainty created by a second Trump presidency with even fewer checks to curb his worst instincts.
14% : The perceptions of Trump and Harris have such a gender gap already.

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