Opinion | How Kamala Harris can use the debate to win over undecided voters

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

51% : Her strength in holding Trump accountable for his words and actions not only at the debate but in the years prior.
46% : The perception of Trump is pretty set in stone among not only his base, but also this key debate voter group.
46% : In a race that is likely going to be decided by no more than 4% of the vote (keep in mind the average margin of victory in all the presidential races since 2000 has been 3.3 percentage points), and with Trump and Harris each likely locked in at around 46% or 47% of the vote, this race is going to come down to a few thousand moderate voters spread across seven states.
43% : If Harris is perceived as comfortable in her own skin -- not taking herself too seriously or being defensive, and laughing a bit when she is confronted by Trump or even the moderators -- these voters will give her strength credit and understand her command as a potential president.
39% : My strategic perspective is that Harris has much more to gain in this debate among these voters than Trump does.
39% : And with Harris holding a 3- to 4-point lead today, if she does what is laid out here at the debate, Trump will have very little opportunity left to close the gap.
26% : Most of these moderate voters have many misgivings about Trump, but they have never truly seen him held accountable.
25% : So, with the stakes so high and this debate worth so many campaign days, what is it that moderates who are either undecided or loosely supporting Harris or Trump will be looking for?
22% : This moderate voter group does not like Trump, and it is looking for a reason to solidly support Harris.
19% : As stated above, Trump has little to gain from this debate because of the locked-in nature of the perceptions of him, but what he could do is try to disrupt Harris from building a strength connection with these voters.

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