Trump and Harris need to command the stage

With the US election days away, polls across the US show that voters’ prime interest sits with their hip pocket.

The small group of undecided voters will not be won over on sweeping election promises or actions taken on the global stage. Kamala Harris and Donald Trump need to convince these voters they will stand up and deliver for them.

The key to building this belief is through the physical presence of each candidate, with the next president being decided by who can hold the stage front and centre, with conviction and power, to the final curtain.

The Republicans’ best chance is for Donald Trump to hold the stage and play on a lack of belief in Kamala Harris. AP

That said, as we enter the final days of the campaign I can see for the first time the toll his fight to win back the White House has taken. His lukewarm media appearances – which have featured the Republican presidential nominee struggling to piece words together – showcase just how frail he has become.

The key to building this belief is through the physical presence of each candidate.

During an appearance on Fox & Friends, Trump voluntarily created sound bites so absurd they could be mistaken for deep fakes, and there were questions about his energy levels when he dropped out of 60 Minutes and CNBC interviews, with one report claiming he was exhausted.

Quite frankly, who wouldn’t be?

“When he’s good, he’s great, and when he’s off message, he’s not so great,” Trump adviser David Urban says.

The reality is that, as the campaign comes to its end, Trump has not been consistently at his best.

Harris, by comparison, is much younger and has many excellent qualities to woo the few remaining undecideds. She appears to be always on the side of a moral value set, she does not exaggerate and, as an ex-prosecutor, she checks her facts thoroughly.

In her physical presence, over the last months, we have witnessed her moving her energy centre lower in her body, with lower hand gestures, less word-salads and less of her unappealing laugh. All of this enhances her power.

When it comes to winning over those few hundred thousand undecided voters who will determine the election, the issue for Harris is whether she can prove she has the power to succeed and to deliver for them.

Republicans have played on this insecurity, releasing a book of blank pages, titled The Achievements of Kamala Harris. While funny, it is effective and, without the years of consistency of appearance, it hurts.

Harris’ every breath, word and movement is now critical. She not only has to hold her stance but, unlike Trump (whose supporters are devotees), Harris knows any wrong move or misstatement could frighten the horses and send voters bolting.

It seems an almost insurmountable task for Harris. Every local and international crisis adds more pressure for a show of strength that is almost superhuman. Yet she continues to grow in presence, while Trump, who already has the power, seems to be fading.

The Republicans know the best chance for Trump to win the White House back is to hold the stage and play on the lack of belief in Harris. The Democrats know Harris – who is younger, and stronger than she has been given credit for – needs to push and needle Trump in the hope he continues to unravel.

This is why Harris has ramped up her TV appearances, with the Democrats laser-focused on Trump, labelling him “unstable” and a “fascist”.

The issue for Harris is she cannot afford any missteps in these final days and one can only imagine the frustration in her team as Biden shifted the focus off Trump by appearing to label Trump supporters as ‘garbage’, a misstep reminiscent of Hillary Clinton’s ‘deplorable’ comment back in 2016 and a distraction Harris did not need.

While polls tell us the US election is on a knife-edge, what stands between Harris and the White House as the campaign peaks is whether she can project a commanding enough presence in the final days to win over the undecideds, delivering the knockout blow to a withering Trump.

If Harris fails to deliver and Trump can regather his energy, buoyed by the massive turn-out at his rally in Madison Square Garden, then she will fall short.

There has never been an election quite like this.