Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are getting ready for Tuesday's debate in sharply different ways

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump prepare for the presidential debate with contrasting strategies and goals for the future.

Democratic presidential candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump are veering sharply in how they gear up for Tuesday's (September 10, 2024) presidential debate, setting up a showdown that reflects not just two separate visions for the country but two politicians who approach big moments very differently.

The Vice President is cloistered in a historic hotel in downtown Pittsburgh where she can focus on honing crisp two-minute answers, per the debate's rules. She's been working with aides since Thursday and chose a venue that allows the Democratic nominee the option of mingling with swing-state voters.

Mr. Trump publicly dismisses the value of studying for the debate. The former President is choosing instead to fill his days with campaign-related events on the premise that he'll know what he needs to do once he steps on the debate stage at the National Constitution Centre in Philadelphia.

“You can go in with all the strategy you want but you have to sort of feel it out as the debate's taking place,” he said during a town hall with Fox News host Sean Hannity.

Mr. Trump then quoted former boxing great Mike Tyson, who said, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.” Ms. Harris has said she is prepared for Mr. Trump to rattle off insults and misrepresent facts, even as her campaign has seen value in focusing on the middle class and the prospects of a better future for the country.

“We should be prepared for the fact that he is not burdened by telling the truth,” Harris said in a radio interview for the Rickey Smiley Morning Show. “He tends to fight for himself, not for the American people, and I think that's going to come out during the course of the debate." In her own preparation, Ms.Harris has the Democratic consultant Philippe Reines, a longtime aide to Hillary Clinton, portraying Trump. She likes to describe Trump as having a “playbook” of falsehoods to go after Democrats such as Clinton and former President Barack Obama.

Ms. Harris has said she understands Trump on a deeper psychological level. She has tried in speeches like her remarks at the Democratic National Convention to show that she would be a stronger leader than him — an argument that gets at Trump's own desire to project and show strength.