After the one televised debate the pair have given last week, in which Harris gave a perceived better performance on the night, an assassination attempt was made on Trump in Florida Sunday.

A clearer picture of how both incidents have impacted on the respective candidates' ratings is likely to follow this week, ERR's Laura Kalam reported from the U.S.

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris has shown a redoubled confidence at campaign events following the debate,, including one held in Charlotte, North Carolina, late last week.

"Did you watch it?," Harris chuckled, referring to last week's TV debate.

"And look I believe we owe it to have another debate. We owe it to the voters, she continued.

However, last week's face-off between Harris and Trump may very well be the last, as well as the first.

Meanwhile, Trump cast his opponent's call for a rematch in sporting terms.

"But she immediately called for a second debate, which means that she is like a prizefighter that lost a fight," he told supporters in Arizona.

Close to 60 percent of the 67 million viewers who saw the debate reportedly thought the vice president, a former California attorney general, came out the stronger.

Bob Chuba, a voter from Pennsylvania, one of roughly three vital swing states, told ERR: "Kamala really trashed Trump good. I really did vote for Trump 2 times but I switched my allegiance. I'm just tired of the routine and looking for something new."

North Carolina voter Leeann Syndergaard meanwhile said: "I feel like Kamala did a really good job and she kind of let Trump just talk and dig himself into his own hole."

While winning one single debate does not guarantee the automatic route to the White House, the vice president has achieved a five-point lead over Trump nationally as polls stand.

Despite that, on some key and decisive issues including the economy and immigration, voters tend to favor the former president.

Clifford Young, a spokesperson for pollsters Ipsos, said: "Everyone was waiting in anticipation after the debate, to see where the polls would land, and what we're finding right now is a lot of stability".

Meanwhile, Tatishe Nteta, a political scientist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, noted: "Given the increase in polarization in the nation, most people have already made up their minds, and the debate is not going to push them one way or another. We're always looking to that undecided voter."

About 5 percent of registered voters remain undecided, so in a race as down to the wire, as this one is at present, with seven weeks to go until election day, these votes could be the decisive ones.

"That small swathe of voters who have not decided. She wants to give them pause, a time to reflect and think about what their vote would be. She was able to do that," Clifford Young of Ipsos added.

Ben Warner, a political scientist at the University of Missouri, told ERR: "Debates may or may not have any long-term influence on the direction of the campaign, but they always benefit the viewers. People always learn about the candidates from that, and people that do watch them always see their competence and their knowledge about the election go way up."

Neither candidate is taking anything for granted. Right after last week's debate, both Harris and Trump headed to battleground states, to continue campaigning – though they did have a brief encounter at the World Trade Center memorial on September 11, necessarily perfunctory and cordial given the circumstances.

Harris herself said at the Charlotte rally at the weekend: "We know ours will be a very tight race until the very end. We are the underdog let's be clear about that. And so we have hard work ahead of us, but we like hard work. Hard work is fun work."

Political analysts in the U.S. suggest the debate's true impact may be reflected in this week's polls.

The recent foiled assassination attempt on Trump, while he was playing golf at one of his courses in Florida and the second attempt in two months, is likely to also affect his rating, so changes here are hotly anticipated too.

No other candidate is running for president; a potential third candidate, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has thrown his support behind Trump, while some former leading Republicans, including former Vice President Dick Cheney, have chosen a candidate before the party and called for votes for Harris.

Election day in the U.S. is November 5.

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