Harris’s Debate Challenge: Pushing Ahead Without Leaving Biden Behind

Vice President Kamala Harris will try to use her debate on Tuesday against former President Donald J. Trump to argue that Americans are ready to turn the page on the politics of the past decade, with its turmoil and social animus.

But Mr. Trump, standing just feet away, is likely to make a different case: He is expected to try to paint Ms. Harris, the sitting vice president, as the candidate of the status quo.

The debate will pose a challenge for Ms. Harris, who will have to decide how much to embrace or distance herself from President Biden and his policies at a moment when polls show that many Americans are hungry for change. It is a conundrum other vice presidents have faced while seeking the presidency, and Ms. Harris’s allies said she would have to tread carefully as she makes a case for herself.

“She can praise Biden and talk about the accomplishments, but also acknowledge that the work is not done,” said Bakari Sellers, an ally of Ms. Harris and a Democratic political commentator. “So she has to be willing to display to the American people a level of empathy and understanding, and not simply say everything we did was God’s gift to politics.”

A recent poll by The New York Times and Siena College highlighted the difficult task Ms. Harris faces. It found that 61 percent of likely voters said the next president should represent a major change from Mr. Biden. Only 25 percent said Ms. Harris represented that change, while 53 percent said Mr. Trump did.

One of the most glaring vulnerabilities for the vice president is an economy that is stable but whose benefits many voters say they cannot feel. The poll found that Mr. Trump held a 13-percentage-point advantage on the economy, the issue that was cited as the most important to