Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican former President Donald Trump will share a stage for the first and possibly last televised debate before Americans choose their next president. Just two months until election day could be a defining moment for both candidates as they fight to shape voters’ perceptions of each other and gain momentum in the knife-edge 2024 presidential contest.

Harris, a 59-year-old California senator and prosecutor, will have the opportunity to show that she has the experience and insight to lead the country, a crucial question her campaign seeks to answer as she edges closer to unseating Trump in the battleground states. Harris’s arrival on the national stage – replacing the incumbent Biden in July – has boosted her popularity and slashed what had been Trump’s big lead over the rest of the Democratic field. She’ll be eager to maintain that upward trend.

For her part, Trump will use the upcoming face-off to demonstrate that Harris needs to prepare to become commander-in-chief. He will likely hammer her on the Biden administration’s border security policies, which failed to stop a flood of migrants and high border securities that have burdened middle-class families. He will also aim to amplify claims that she is too liberal and has never served in the military.

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It will be Harris’s chance to take the offensive, using her legal skills to dispute the charges that Trump is making. Her aggressiveness could pay dividends as she seeks to regain ground lost in the race to the White House since assuming the Democratic nomination in August.

If Harris fails to shine, it will be an early setback for her candidacy and a big test for her team as they try to reframe the campaign’s narrative in the run-up to the midterm elections.

Both candidates will be allotted 90 minutes for their speeches, with two commercial breaks. They’ll be allowed two minutes to answer each question and an additional minute for rebuttals.

It will be the first time Harris and Trump have appeared on the same stage for a televised debate since their campaign launched in 2020. Their thorny relationship has made it difficult for them to find common ground. However, the upcoming encounter will give them a rare opportunity to define their differences in front of millions of American viewers. Regardless of what happens, the Harris-Trump showdown will be one to watch.