• PARTICIPANTS:  Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Senator Kamala Harris and republican incumbent Mike Pence.
• WHEN:  Wednesday night, 9-10:30 p.m. ET
• WHERE:  Salt Lake City, Utah on the campus of the University of Utah campus
• MODERATOR:  Susan Page, Washington Bureau chief for USA Today
• FORMAT:   Nine 10-minute segments.  No specific topics have been released

WATCH IT HERE:  NatZero will be live streaming & blogging starting at 8:55 p.m.

Some things to remember:

Expectations for Pence are low.  Even though Pence was a radio talk show host before entering politics, Pence is known for his stiff, unemotional delivery.  It won’t change tonight.  At times, Pence will try to act offended or outraged, but it will manifest itself simply in a raised voice, not real emotion.

Expectations for Harris are high.  Harris, a college debater at the nationally-renowned Howard University and former prosecutor, made a reputation as a relentless interrogator during Senate Judiciary Committee hearings where she flustered and angered SCOTUS nominee Brett Kavanaugh. 

Harris will let Pence set his own traps.  As a skilled prosecutor, Harris knows when to let a person speak to proverbially dig his own grave.  She’ll listen to what Pence says and then spring on his inconsistencies, unlike Pence who will just dispense talking points.

Pence will not take responsibility for leading the White House coronavirus task force because it’s so screwed up.  Pence will likely use the “A lot of people screwed up” defense to brush off his ineffective leadership of the White House pandemic response team.  “Nobody knew how deadly this virus would be” will be another talking point, as will copious amounts of blaming China for the failures of the Trump Administration’s response.

Harris will note that the country is on edge because of Trump’s health, and Pence isn’t providing comfort.  The issue of Trump’s coronavirus diagnosis, and his subsequent disregard for public health protocols, will definitely come up.  Harris will make strong points in noting Pence has been absent in the past week, too busy campaigning to tend to the nation.   Harris will state that she is ready to take the reins, but won’t have to because Biden is significantly healthier than Trump, even before he got COVID.

Pence will try to make Harris defend Biden’s record while he was VP.  Pence will try desperately to get Harris to state that Biden’s time as VP was a bad time for Blacks in the US, economically and through the criminal justice system.  The Trump team wants to get video of Harris saying Biden did bad things so they can play them on a loop.  Look for Pence to repeat talking points about ISIS thriving under the Obama-Biden Administration and the unfairness of the Obama-Biden crime bill.  A clue:  Two of the guests the Pence camp invited to the debate tonight are the parents of Kayla Mueller, a woman killed by ISIS in 2013.  They were also speakers at the republican National Convention.

Pence will claim Harris is hypocritical for her actions when she was Attorney General of California.  Pence will bring up Harris’s record at the AG, noting claimed “hypocrisies” in the way she prosecuted police involved in the killings of people in custody and her prosecution of people involved in minor drug crimes (who were overwhelming Black).  Harris will likely counter that she was prosecutor the laws of the state of California at the time.

Harris won’t bring up Pence’s claimed faith, although she will try to get him on the record that Amy Coney Barrett was selected for her anti-abortion fervor.   The republicans are running away anytime they’re asked if they support the nomination of Barrett because she’s a staunch supporter of revoking Roe v. Wade.  President Trump and Iowa republican Senator Joni Ernst has claimed that Roe isn’t an issue with the nomination.  Pence, however, has been a vocal advocate to appoint judges that would overturn the precedent.  Harris will want to get him on record as wanting Roe overturned, an policy that is unpopular with voters.

Harris will bring up Pence camp fighting plastic barriers on stage.  Less than 26 hours before the debate began, the Pence team was fighting having the barriers on stage.  They’re a physical sign of how poorly the Trump Administration has handled the pandemic.  They’re also a reminder that nine days ago, Pence attended an event at the White House that was a superspreader event.  Harris will hammer Pence for his mismanagement of the pandemic and his disregard for the people around him.

OUTCOME: Pence will not have any blatant screw-ups, and he will hitch his wagon to Trump’s legacy, which in the future will turn out to be political suicide.  A poised, professional and thorough Harris will come out on top in both body blows and points.  She’ll successful remind people Pence led the administration’s disastrous response to the virus, and 210,000 people died.  And Pence will be unable to make any past alleged transgressions of Biden or Harris stick.  Winner:  Harris.