It’s finally here, the cage match of the century. Politico notes
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will debate for 90 minutes on Monday. But the winner likely will be determined in the first half-hour.
That’s when Al Gore first sighed, Mitt Romney knocked President Obama on his heels, and Marco Rubio, earlier this year, glitched in repeating the same talking point — over and over and over. It’s when Gore tried, unsuccessfully, to invade George W. Bush’s space, Richard Nixon was first caught wiping away sweat with a handkerchief (during the moderators’ introductions!) and Gerald Ford in 1976 made the ill-advised declaration that, “There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe.â€
Veteran presidential debate coaches and campaign strategists say the tone and trajectory of general election debates have long been set in their opening minutes, and that the explosion of real-time spin and Twitter groupthink has only accelerated the trend.
Those first 30 minutes are when people are really listening and watching. So, what do Hillary and Donald need to do during those 30 minutes? USA Today offers separate articles on the 4 things each candidate needs to do. Starting with Hillary
- Play offense – they think she needs to excite the base, who, so far, is utterly unexcited and barely show up for her tiny events.
- Be more likable – She needs to be less snarky and more humorous and warm. Well, good luck with that.
- Outline a positive vision – Other than showing her supposed work for children, her campaign has been primarily negative towards Trump. Will that change?
- Go off script – people think she’s too scripted. Do not expect that to change.
- Have a compelling answer about Iraq and Syria – As USA Today notes, voters are very leery of Middle East policy judgement, and Trump constantly talks about her bad judgement. Her best bet here is to provide answers that will not allow Trump to utterly hit her back.
Missing from the list is to show people that she’s not sick, frail, and low energy. And, really, the #1 thing Hillary needs to do is to not allow Trump to get her off her game. He was tremendous at this during the GOP debates against politicians who knew better and had experience, and he still did it.
As for the 5 things for Trump
- Meet the presidential threshold – he needs to appear and act presidential. Keep his cool. This debate is not for his base, this is for all the rest of the Republicans who are not as enthused, as well as the independents.
- Play good defense – this is interesting. USA Today is expecting that Trump will be asked questions on his Birtherism, alleged ties to Russia, etc. They didn’t offer the same advice to Hillary, who has considerably worse scandals.
- Stay on the attack – they say he needs to impeach Hillary’s so-called qualifications. That won’t be all that hard, not with 100 million people watching.
- Manage a one-on-one debate – he’s going to have to talk longer and manage the interaction between just him and Hillary.
- Effectively handle the gender dynamic – in other words, he can’t appear sexist by bullying her the same way he did with male opponents, because fragile Hillary needs to be protected, you guys!
What Trump needs to do is have a nice, even debate. Do not go for the knockout punch, and be careful when Hillary gives him an opening, because it could be a set-up. The idea here is to not lose. A tie or a slight win for Trump would be a big loss for Hillary. He should calmly discuss how bad her policies have worked. The failures in Libya and Benghazi. How she put her personal convenience over national security with her email. Her general failures in the Middle East as Sec of State. And so much more. And show energy and vitality to Hillary’s low energy.
Crossed at Right Wing News.
I said it before….IF Hillary can stand for 90 minutes and doesnt drop dead in the middle of the debates or have a seizure in which she goes into these insanely funny Saturday night live skits….then I think the Press will declare her the winner by such a large margin that Donald Trump should resign from the GOP and concede the election to her HIGHNESS
People magazine’s interview with Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine in the October 3 issue carried the usual hard-hitting questions from Sandra Sobieraj Westfall: “Here’s one you probably won’t get in the debates: What emoji best describes you?â€
Clinton replied “All the happy emojis, the heart eyes, the hug ones. I use them with family.†Back in April, People asked Trump about comparisons to Hitler, and found an expert to suggest Trump could end America.
Much of what conservatives believe to be true us actually false.
Her pseudoscandals ARE discussed more, but none have been shown to be actual. Trump’s scandals are far worse and real: birtherism, bribes, tax returns, Trump Foundation, use of Polish illegals on Trump Tower, Putinism, racist rental policies, mob ties.
Fortunately for Trump the media love him so much they ignore his scandals.
“Birtherism” is a “far worse” scandal? I wonder how?
Not releasing his tax returns is a scandal? It’s a decision, certainly enough, but that doesn’t make it a scandal. “Putinism?” That he thinks that Vladimir Vladimirovich has been a stronger leader that Barack Hussein Obama? Anyone with his eyes open can see that much; it’s simply a question of where the Russian president has led.
Hillary has “pseudo-scandals” that is just too much. When you have visuals of Hillary lying to the families of dead sons, when she has visuals of lying before congress. When Hillary makes millions of the State Department and her pay for play scheme. When Hillary has the whole of North Africa and the Middle East implode secondary to her incompetence in regime change. Hillary at the end of the day is corrupt, incompetent, crooked, corrupt and now has progressive chronic dementia (loss of memory as she stated).
What I find amazing is the way that the Dems can take a person like Hillary, assess all of her negatives, then apply them to her opponent when there is zero reference. On a personal basis this is called transference in the mental world, but the Dems are able to make it into there policy.
All Trump did with the so called “gold star” family was to question why the wife did not speak, and likely hit the truth when he said that she was not allowed due to her religion and he gets demonized. Yet, Hillary stands over the remains of families dead sons and lies to them and no one calls her on that. The government under the Dems and elite Republicans is so corrupt that it makes one wonder if we can correct the situation at the polls.
I forgot one point. The tax return issue is pure crap. You can not determine what people own off tax returns and people like Trump likely hardly ever report all their charity, I know I don’t. Yet the Dems are having apoplexy over his refusal to release something that most have never filed and can not read or understand.
You are correct, david7134, the tax return issue is pure crap. I don’t care about nor do I want to see anybody’s tax returns including Hillary or Trumps. And anyone foolish enough to release his private financials to the public is too stupid to be president. Also, tax returns only show income for that year, not wealth. There have been years I’ve made 1.5 million and years I lost 500k. So what?
Trump illegally gave $25,000 of Trump Foundation money to the FL AG just before she decided to halt investigations of Trump U.
Trump U. Under investigation.
Trump paid $258,000 of Trump Foundation money to settle legal obligations. Under investigation. People deduct charitable giving from their taxes. This is a clear example of Trump using taxpayer funds to pay his debts. He’s a douche.
Claiming the President of the US was not American for 5 years is a scandal. Actions don’t have to be illegal to be scandalous.
Married 3 times, multiple extramarital affairs. Scandalous.
At least 2 charges of rape in the courts.
Settled lawsuit concerning discrimination in rental housing.
He collected $150,000 from the 9/11 fund even though his businesses were not harmed.
Hiding his tax returns while running for president is indeed a scandal. What lie is he afraid will be uncovered? He’s lied about his charitable giving. He’s lied about his wealth. He probably pays less in taxes than a Denny’s waitress.
Little Donnie at the end of the day is corrupt, incompetent, crooked, corrupt and now has progressive chronic dementia (loss of memory).
All of that and he’s still a million times preferable to Hillary. Just goes to show you how bad she is.
Jeff,
You are making yourself look foolish. But that is not something that you work to avoid. At the end of the day, Hillary is a very reprehensible individual and has no business as president, much less any occupation that commands authority and decision making. Everything that you have listed about Trump is pure bull, but even you, I think, can see the difference in how an official of the government differs in making hundreds of millions as a result of acting like the typical South American tyrant. Hillary should be in jail, if Trump did some of the actions that you describe, he needs to be fined. Even you don’t believe the false charges of rape.
Relax david7134, he just doesn’t want to Make America Great Again. He hates America that’s why he’s for “fundamental change”.
I don’t think Don swayed many undecided voters tonight.
Ironically, it was Don who ran out of gas halfway through. He was incoherent.
Clinton helped herself, Trump didn’t help himself.
The look on Melania’s face said it all.
And what was all that loud sniffing? Had he taken a few lines of coke to get revved up?
And then his total physical and mental collapse in the last half.
Secretary Clinton looked strong and healthy. Don, not so much.
Clinton needed to be solid and presidential. She was.
Trump needed to not be a butthead. Oops.
Did he know this was on TV?
Trump needed to not be a butthead. Oops.
Unfortunately for this country we have had 8 years of Barak Obama. A sissy, apologist who bows to foreign leaders etc….ad nauseum……
I think America is so hung over by Obama that they are ready for a non tradtional president who ****I S**** a butthead.
I think your failing to grasp why the embicille is nearly beating Hillary.
America is so tired of Political correctness and D.C.’s Stab all Americans in the back as they lie and get rich off the tax payer that they are desperate for ANYONE or ANYTHING that IS NOT BELTWAY POLITICIANS.
Any other year….any other person would never have gotten a million votes total in the primaries….he is now within a point or two of being the next prez…..
Thats how sick and tired America is with the 8 year apology tour of Obama, terrorists on our streets, Illegals flooding the country and being flown in on luxury liners and dropped off at the airports of cities a 1000-2000 miles from the border……
America is sick and tired of being sick and tired….and THAT is why Trump might very well be the next PREZ….Despite his showing last night….in fact HE was being DONALD last night and a lot of people think its about time America stands up for herself to the world once again…..Im pretty sure they dont think Hillary is the person to do that.
What do you think is wrong with the 70 yr old Trump? He seems really tired and frail. Last night he was sniffling constantly; he made bizarre spastic facial tics and grimaces, and after 30-40 minutes became incoherent, stringing together combinations of words that made little sense. If he can’t stand up to a sick old corrupt lady for an hour how can he out negotiate Putin, the Iranians and Kim jong un?
A drug addiction specialist said his behavior and demeanor appeared to be from cocaine. The constant sniffling, the first thirty minutes of high energy followed by a deep crash – slumped shoulders, incoherence, droopy eyelids. Video in the parking garage showed him having some sort of fit.
How insulting to America and Americans that he thought he could snort some coke, wobble onstage and talk Palin-esque word salad for an hour. His prep of beer and cheeseburgers showed.
His svengali, Kellyanne Conway, said he sounded and acted just like a regular American! Just like you’d picked some guy out of a Scranton pool hall and through him onstage before 100 million viewers. A regular American would have been humiliated.
I’m not sure that Don picked up any new supporters last night.
@Jeffery
Your speaking to the hand….People dont give a shit anymore. At all. If Hillary can sell national secrets, bribe the FBI and justice Department, Her husband can Fuk Bimbos all over the world, Get Blow Jobs from a female intern whom is demeaning to women…right?
If Hillary can destroy 30,000 emails, have the FBI and JUSTICE give Immunity to the people doing it, If she can Vote for the War in Iraq and then be against the war in Iraq….If she can be seen by supporters in secret emails as a power crazed woman who HATES BARAK OBAMA……..
If she can Have a foundation taking millions and millions of dollars from foreign nations WHILE SHE WAS SECRETARY OF STATE……..
IF she can negotiate a deal with IRAN who was about ready to collapse under the sanctions imposed on them…
IF HILLARY can do all this and not be impeached like NIXON WAS FIXING TO BE IMPEACHED for doing 1/3rd of what Hillary has done in just FOUR YEARS…..
Yeah you really think……ANYONE CARES ANYMORE?
The dike is leaking, the cracks are forming and America is in Decline as a nation is obsessed with their IPHONES, FACEBOOK and TWITTER accounts….they dont have time to be bothered by the likes of Trump and Hillary…….
So you accusing the Donald of being on drugs is funny…..Perhaps that is why he was obssessed with Obama’s birth certificate….but who cares about that either….
Really No one in this country gives a shit anymore….and that is why the Donald will probably pick up a couple more points after the election…..Thats how much Hillary is despised by nearly everyone including HALF HER OWN PARTY.
Just like the Donald…the question is does the country want 4 more years of Obamalamadingdong…or 4 years of TRUMPLESTILSKIN.