Who is Kamala Harris in US politics?
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Editor's Note
: David Axelrod, CNN political commentator and host of "The Ax Files," was a senior adviser to President Barack Obama and chief strategist for Obama's 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns. The opinions expressed in this comment are his own.
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(CNN) -
With few exceptions, vice presidential debates are like opening acts at a concert.
I mean, entertaining enough, but they're not what you've been to see.
However, due to the surprising events of the past week, the upcoming debate may have more scrutiny and interest.
The hospitalization of President Donald Trump for covid-19 and the advanced age of both presidential candidates (Trump is 74, Joe Biden, 77) have drawn attention to how quickly vice presidents could be pushed to the leading role.
Trump's illness prompted academics and journalists to publicly explore the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the Constitution and what happens when a president is incapacitated.
LEE: This is what will happen if Trump gets too sick to govern
And that's the lens through which voters could see Vice President Mike Pence and California Sen. Kamala Harris when they take the stage in Utah on Wednesday night.
They will undoubtedly play the traditional role of defenders of their headlines.
But they will also be evaluated more seriously than in the past as potential presidents in their own right.
The unique moment will be reflected, in part, by the additional space on stage and Plexiglas between the candidates, due to coronavirus precautions.
And given Pence's recent proximity to Trump and others who have been infected with COVID-19, both candidates will presumably do what Trump didn't do last week: get tested before the debate.
Presumably the audience will wear masks, something that Trump's entourage avoided.
The debate will also be historic in another respect, as for the first time a woman of color will take the stage of the vice-presidential debate.
The contrast between Harris, a Californian and daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants, and Pence, a former white talk show host and evangelical from Indiana, will define the great and growing cultural divide in our politics.
You can bet this event will be more polite than last week's dire presidential debate, where insults flew and the rules were smashed.
Even if Pence and Harris had that bent, the mess in Cleveland was so criticized by voters and commentators that no one is eager to repeat the performance.
The president's illness could also lower the temperature.
LEE: The Presidential Debate Commission announces changes to & # 8216; ensure a more orderly discussion & # 8217;
Most likely, Pence will deliver the more diplomatic version of the Trump debate, more delicately argued but still viewing Biden as the ship of the "radical left."
You can expect familiar questions on topics like "law and order," but a greater emphasis on who is best equipped to lead an economic recovery.
This is the one big issue on which Trump and Biden evenly share support.
Harris will come to promote Biden and his plans.
But Pence will likely try to use her Senate support for progressive wish list issues like Medicare for All and the
Green New Deal
to define the ticket, forcing her to defend her past positions or embrace Biden's more moderate version of the issues.
Pence could pressure her on Biden's track record on race and her direct attack on him during the first Democratic primary debate.
Known for her incisive questioning of witnesses in the Senate, Harris, a former prosecutor, knows how to argue a case.
Even before the president's illness, covid-19 and the government's handling of it were likely to be at the center of the debate on Wednesday.
Pence has chaired the president's task force on coronavirus and will have to answer for the tumultuous and often contradictory path the president has taken in dealing with the virus.
But Harris faces unique challenges posed by expectations and biases.
Biden benefited from the low expectations in the presidential debate, which were largely set by Trump's relentless trolling of him calling him "Sleepy Joe" ("Sleepy Joe").
That made Biden's job easier.
Harris enters the debate in the reverse position.
Much is expected of the charismatic US senator, a skilled interlocutor who debated frequently during her own campaign for the Democratic nomination.
She also faces the same double standard that female contestants face regarding tone when making heavy attacks.
Low-key Pence is underrated as a contender in the debates.
Four years ago, he was widely viewed as the winner of the vice presidential debate with Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, during which Pence deftly stopped Kaine's attacks on Trump and launched his own against Hillary Clinton.
But this vice presidential debate will be different from any of the previous ones.
Americans will not just be weighing arguments.
Now, more than ever, they will be closely evaluating these contenders as potential occupants of the Oval Office.
Vice Presidential Debate Kamala Harris Mike Pence