Democrats have seen their presidential polling position improve dramatically over the two weeks since Harris entered the race. The bulk of polls conducted since President Joe Biden pulled out of the election now show the vice president with a modest lead over Trump nationally and neck-and-neck in key battleground states.

“Whether it lasts depends on two things—on the Harris side, whether she can avoid sounding significantly more left than Biden,” Grant Reeher, professor of political science, tells Newsweek. “I don't think the country has the appetite right now for a lot of new social programs, for more movement to the left culturally, and for significant new public spending.”

“On the Trump side, it's the same question as always—whether he can avoid alienating groups of voters that were beginning to take another look at him,” Reeher says. “And more to the point, whether he can avoid mobilizing them to turn out against him.”

In The Hill article, “Harris ramps up pressure on Trump for debate,” Reeher says, “I think it’s something that both sides kind of need to do,” says Reeher. “Donald Trump can’t afford to be seen running away from one. Kamala Harris has to have one to show folks she will go toe to toe with him in person. There will be a lot riding on it.”