This is an adapted excerpt from the Oct 13 Episode of “Ayman”.

With just over three weeks until Election Day, the race between Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump is a dead heat. The race is tied, with Harris and Trump each at 48% of registered voters nationwide, according to a new NBC News poll released Sunday. That's a noticeable decline from last month's NBC News poll, which had Harris leading Trump by five points, within the margin of error.

When Harris entered the race in July, she brought a wave of momentum and excitement with her. Just a few months later, many may be wondering: How did we get here? Why is the race still so close?

Ultimately, Trump has retreated from debates in favor of interviews with podcast bros, ranted nonsensically about circles, and even appeared at – of all places – Coachella, in a last-minute “Hail Mary” attempt to drum up support in the blue states win.

Meanwhile, Harris is behaving like a presidential candidate. She has held town hall meetings with constituents and spent all of last week running a vigorous media campaign. But what if that's the problem? What if adhering to presidential norms would hurt Harris' campaign?

Ultimately, she is positioning herself as a new candidate for the future. It was a message worried Democratic voters needed to hear after President Joe Biden caved to pressure and dropped out of the race. But since then she has not distanced herself from Biden, but has stuck to him and his policies.

In two separate interviews in recent days, Harris was given the opportunity to explain how her presidency would differ from Biden's. But the best thing the vice president apparently could think of was to tell Stephen Colbert, “I'm not Joe Biden, but I'm not Donald Trump.”

The problem is that this distinction may not be enough for voters. The closer she stuck to Biden's unpopular policies, particularly on Gaza, the more damaging it was to her campaign.

Instead of meeting with leaders of the Uncommitted Movement to allay their concerns about Israel's attack on Gaza and provide clarity between Biden's stance on the war and hers, Harris is courting the support of Republicans like former Rep. Liz Cheney. She has even promised to convene a bipartisan council of advisers, including Republicans, to address policy if she wins.

Compare the vice president's polling position today with Trump's in 2016. Eight years ago, he was a complete political novice. Voters had no idea how he would govern, but they voted him into office anyway. Today his supporters know exactly who he is and who he will be as president. So much so that, according to USA Today's David Jackson, Trump is doing better in the polls today than he did in 2016 and 2020.

This should serve as a wake-up call for the Harris campaign. With Trump, the American people know what they are getting. He stands for fascism, authoritarianism and the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants.

But the question for Democrats in this final section remains: What are you for? What is Harris for? And will it ultimately be enough to stop Trump and his authoritarian vision for the country?

Ayman Mohyeldin

Ayman Mohyeldin is an MSNBC host who has long covered the Middle East and the Arab world. He is the host of “Ayman,” which airs Saturdays and Sundays at 7 p.m. EST.

Allison Detzel contributed.