In an abrupt shift, U.S. senator Ted Cruz endorsed Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Friday, saying he is the only candidate who can stop Democrat Hillary Clinton from winning the White House on November 8.
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Donald Trump needs to prove to voters that he has the policy depth and gravitas to serve as commander in chief.
Reines, whose garrulous and quirky personality is closer in some ways to Trump’s than Clinton’s, is the rare ally who would be willing to throw any number of embarrassing comments in her face during a mock debate.
The 90-minute showdown is expected to be one of the most watched presidential debates ever, with an audience that analysts say could venture into Super Bowl-sized ratings by exceeding 100 million viewers.
The visual alone will be striking as the candidates step behind their podiums at Hofstra University in suburban NY. “She has to come off as dismissive [of Trump’s barbs] but not in a patronizing way”, said Richard Himelfarb, an associate professor of political science at Hofstra University in NY, the site of Monday’s debate. Trump, in particular, has been branded as a phony by hard-line conservatives, Cruz among them, who see him more as a political opportunist than a true Republican. It presents a major opportunity for them to appeal to voters who have yet to commit to a candidate after a mostly negative race in which Clinton and Trump have sought to brand each other as untrustworthy and risky for the country.
In the WSB poll, Clinton’s 5-point edge with women voters wasn’t enough to overcome the NY businessman’s support among Georgia men, who backed him 52-38 over Clinton.
Congressional leaders say they have the voters to override Obama’s veto.
Graphic shows results of AP-GfK poll on qualities of the presidential candidates.
Good for Hillary Clinton – she is NOT playing around!
Mrs Clinton, making her second presidential bid, is an old hand at debates and considered solid.
Trump took Friday to prepare, and still had to work Sunday, September 25, on the debate. He’s also spent numerous Sundays batting around ideas with senior aides.
SEE MORE: Are Debate Moderators Responsible For Fact-Checking The Candidates?
Trump: “Uh, I can’t say that, either”.
Clinton addressed the shift on social media by posting a tweet from Cruz himself calling on Trump to release his tax returns. Most refused to accept jobs with the Trump campaign when offered following Cruz’s departure from the primary campaign this spring.
But Clinton has her own troubles. For weeks, reporters and politicos have been speculating over who had been tapped to play opposite Clinton in her mock debates, which is one of the ways she has been preparing for the first debate at Hofstra University in NY on Monday.
Mrs. Clinton has a thick dossier on Mr. Trump after months of research and meetings with her debate team, including analysis and assumptions about his psychological makeup that Clinton advisers described as critical to understanding how to knock Mr. Trump off balance.
President Barack Obama’s former campaign manager David Axelrod called the debate Mrs Clinton’s “final exam”. Bernie Sanders this year and other challengers.
She is mentally readying herself for multiple Trumps: the disciplined opponent who sticks to big themes, the no-holds-barred adversary who goes on the offensive, and the snide antagonist who calls her a “loser” to her face.
The overall Presidential debate schedule was agreed to in late August, with the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates announcing the format for the three presidential debates, as well is the one vice presidential debate.
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During a recent television interview, Trump played coy about which approach he planned to take Monday night.
