Against all odds, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are scheduled to debate each other tonight, on September 10, 2024. Provided that they both show up, we're in for a different experience from the last debate.

The vibes of each Trump debate over the last eight years have been extremely weird, but not entirely consistent. So, we're keeping our eyes peeled to see exactly how Trump plays off of Harris and vice versa.

1. Will Trump play up the 2016 creepy vibes?

When Trump was debating Clinton all those years ago, he raised some eyebrows by regularly talking over her and even "looming" behind her.

However, the rules of this debate are very different. One candidate will be muted while the other is speaking, so the cross-talk will likely be minimized. Harris wanted to change those rules, but that simply didn't happen.

Trump won't have an audience to play off of either, just like the previous Biden debate, which will hopefully keep some of Trump's worst instincts in check. He loves to play off a crowd whether they're friendly or not.

There won't be opening statements either, so both Harris and Trump will ostensibly be answering questions the entire time.

2. Will Trump's age be a problem now that Biden is gone?

Biden's career-ending performance sucked up all of the oxygen during the last debate, so Trump's own stumbling performance was barely remarked upon.

Now, Trump will be up against a former prosecutor who is nearly two decades his junior. The tables have turned, but we'll be waiting to see if pundits are interested in taking Trump to task for the same kind of rambling answers they badgered Biden over last time.

3. Who controls tonight's narrative?

Much of the theater of debate is simply posturing. Most of the voting public has already made up their minds on who, if anyone, they're going to support, so this event is mostly just for the news media who desperately need something to talk about for the next week or two.

While some debates can make history because of extremely bad performances, they mostly don't move the needle beyond what points the talking heads will repeat ad nauseam on Fox and CNN.

If you want to watch along live, you can join us at 8:45 p.m. ET.

[Image: Gage Skidmore]