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Harris has an even larger advantage over Trump on her strongest issues in this poll: 16 points on abortion and race relations, and 10 points on health care. But other recent polling has shown that voters rank those issues as less important in determining their vote than the economy and immigration. (Health care and abortion ranked just after those two issues on a similar list, while race relations was among the least important to voters.) We'll expect both candidates to talk up signature issues like abortion (for Harris) and immigration (for Trump), but we'll also be looking out for how Harris tries to shift the narrative on the economy and immigration — and how well Trump stays on topic to bolster his advantage on those issues.

Of course, debates are often as much about style as substance: Voters will be keeping a close eye on how the two candidates act on stage, or who seems more \"presidential.\" And when it comes to personal attributes, Harris generally outperformed Trump. Respondents in the ABC News/Ipsos poll were particularly likely to view her as more honest and trustworthy than Trump, 43 percent to 25 percent, and she came out ahead when respondents were asked which candidate represents their personal values and understands the problems of people like them.

Notably, Harris also beat out Trump by a large margin when it came to who Americans think has the better \"physical health\" and \"mental sharpness\" to serve effectively as president, with more than twice as many saying Harris was in better physical health (57 percent to 25 percent). That difference underscores one of the most obvious ways Harris's candidacy changed the dynamic of this race — she's around 20 years younger than both Biden and Trump — and raises the question of whether Trump will face some of the same age-based concerns that drove Biden out of the race.

Little about this presidential contest has been traditional, and after a first presidential debate blew open the presidential race in June, this debate is expected to attract more eyes than usual. In an unusually abbreviated race between Harris and Trump, the candidates have had a short amount of time to make their cases to voters, and this week's debate will be one of the most high-profile, and-high stakes, opportunities to do so. The country will be watching to see if Harris meets high expectations, and how Trump responds in their first head-to-head matchup.

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