ISABELLE MULLEN: Women to cast deciding votes as Donald Trump and Kamala Harris battle for White House

The presidential debate could make or break the election for both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.

The die-hard Democrats and rusted-on Republicans have already made up their minds, but both parties need undecided voters in swing states to forge a clear path to 270 electoral college votes.

The race is tight.

Much tighter than Republicans would have liked.

Kamala Harris is now leading Donald Trump 48.8 to 44.8 in the latest polls, jumping slightly ahead of her Republican rival following the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

It’s upsetting Trump.

This week the former president has been on a war path using social media platform X to distribute ad campaigns where Harris is portrayed as “dangerously liberal.”

“My name is Kamala Harris, my pronouns are she/her,” she says in the edited clip.

It’s a message that would upset part of his Republican base, but Trump is also trying to capture a new audience.

In another video titled Harris v Harris, the former prosecutor is pictured debating herself, her changing stance on key issues laid out by the Trump team in black and white.

It’s all politics.

But in an environment where Harris’s policies haven’t yet been tested, it’s a message that could cut through to undecided voters.

The Vice President hasn’t sat for an interview and answered formal questions from journalists yet.

That will happen on Thursday (US time), with Harris and her running mate Tim Walz agreeing to speak with CNN in their first joint interview.

Then on September 10, she will have to outline and defend her policies for 90 minutes during the televised presidential debate.

Trump won’t hold back.

She’ll be asked why she’s changed her position on fracking, immigration, gun control and health care, among other policies. The Republicans are already spending millions of dollars on ad campaigns that question her credibility and strength of character.

But Trump has changed his position on several policies too.

The most recent shift is in his stance on abortion.

Abortion was a central theme of the Democratic National Convention, and one that has united groups of women in the Democrats’ favour.

It’s prompted Trump to change gears.

He now says: “My administration will be great for women and their reproductive rights”.

His comments follow an interview with CBS where he said he would not restrict access to abortion pills, despite previously insisting the regulation of abortion should be left up to individual US states.

Key parts of his Republican base — who are pro-life — are concerned by the shift.

Trump’s former vice president Mike Pence says: “The former president’s use of language of the left pledging that his administration would be great for women and their reproductive rights should be concerning for millions of pro-life Americans.”

But the shift in his position is interesting, because it shows an awareness of a different public opinion and a need to win over undecided voters at the ballot box.

It’s a smart move.

Trump has read the room and got ahead of an abortion argument that could lose him voters during the debate.

In the US, more women are registered to vote than men.

Since 1980 women have voted at a higher rate in every presidential election, according to the Centre for American Women and Politics.

Trump’s changing position is an acknowledgment that it’s not the ultra-conservative Republicans who can carry him to the oval office, but undecided voters.

The Democrats know this as well.