Party operatives and campaign officials who spoke with the Washington Examiner outlined strategies for each candidate on how to emerge successful from Tuesday’s debate.

Harris, who saw a huge polling boost after replacing President Joe Biden atop the Democratic ticket in July, has failed to expand her lead over Trump since August and is seeking momentum heading into Election Day.

Trump is looking to the debate as a chance to “reset his campaign” and finally “draw the lines of distinction against Harris,” according to Louis Perron, a PhD global political consultant and the author of “Beat the Incumbent: Proven Strategies and Tactics to Win Elections.”

“Don’t accuse her for something ridiculous like her laughter. Tie her to the incumbent administration and key unpopular decisions,” he told the Washington Examiner. “And he needs to do it in a calm, settled manner. In style, like in the last debate against Biden.”

Harris, on the other hand, must appear both presidential — an admittedly cliche response but something she has been attempting to channel since at least the convention with her wardrobe choices and speech tenor — and not be afraid to “get in the mud” with Trump, according to three veteran Democratic strategists with close ties to her 2024 campaign.

“You heard it from Michelle Obama herself at the convention. We’re done with that ‘when they go low’ stuff. Trump hasn’t seen anyone try to match his vitriol on stage at a debate, something that just given her age alone, Vice President Harris is much better equipped to do than President Biden,” one Democratic strategist told the Washington Examiner, suggesting that Harris has learned lessons from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s failed 2016 campaign against Trump. “The gloves are coming off.”

“Voters know just who Donald Trump is. His many flaws and crimes have been documented non-stop for the past eight years, and I’d like to see the vice president detail her plan for the number one issue this cycle: the economy,” a second Democratic strategist explained. “The Trump campaign has criticized her nonstop failing to produce a complete policy platform. Well, this is the time to do it. Take away their only real talking point to date.”

Pennsylvania voters themselves gave similar responses to the Washington Examiner in recent days.

Emily Pugliese, a 43-year-old Philadelphia resident and policy expert at an environmental nonprofit organization, suggested that Harris can make the “bumbling fool” Trump “implode” by simply being herself, and “speaking clearly and concisely, which she’s excellent at doing.”

Pugliese also claimed that Harris will “absolutely” get under Trump’s skin by calling him a convicted felon, adding it’s “just the truth.”

Kassel Coover, a 42-year-old marketing professional from Chester County, wants to see Harris hit “hard on the economy.”

“Even though the jobs reports say that the economy is doing well, you know, from where I am, there are a lot of people out of work, and we need to know that job creation is going to pick up,” Coover stated in an interview on the outskirts of a Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff event on Sunday. 

Caroline Bradley, a 46-year-old marketing professional and friend of Coover, added that Harris doesn’t think “she needs to be ladylike and quiet” in countering Trump’s bravado on stage.

“I think that she needs to label him as the old man that he is. Every single time he goes against her, saying some baloney because he doesn’t know anything, and he lies a lot ‘well, old man Trump over there, you know, just like grandpa,’” she stated. “He’s been campaigning as being the young guy. She needs to flip it.”

Trump supporters want to see the former president “tell the truth” and draw contrasts between his policies in office and those of the Biden-Harris administration.

“He wants to be everybody’s president. He has something to run on and Harris doesn’t have anything to run on. That’s the problem,” David Gehring, a 37-year-old Trump Force 47 volunteer from the Pittsburgh suburbs, said of Trump. “We have someone running for president right now that has been in there for four years and is not running on her success. She’s running on what she’s going to do to change things. Ma’am, you’re in office today. Get to work. You’re there now. Bring down inflation now.”

“Speak to what he has done that no one can dispute. Speak to the uncovering that has occurred on the legal maneuvering on the other side, he’s smart,” added Carolyn Dorazio, a business attorney and Trump Force 47 volunteer also from the Pittsburgh suburbs, added. “Speak to the facts. When she says ‘you’re a convicted felon,’ well no, part of the basis of that frivolous lawsuit, as attorneys will know that term. They were all frivolous. They just filed them and got away with it because they had judges that didn’t care. They were politicizing the process.”

And it would appear that even Trump fans are concerned that the former president’s past “nasty woman” tactics might backfire on the former president. Asked if he wants to see Trump continue his name-calling on stage, Gehring conceded that the campaign “can do with a little bit less of that.”

“He has so much to run on. He has so much that he’s done,” he explained. “There have been some really great results. I wish he would do a little bit less of that, perhaps.”