Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are preparing for a bruising first U.S. presidential debate with foreign policy sure to feature strongly.
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The event, which is expected to be watched – and parsed – by tens of millions of Americans, could draw a record number of viewers when it kicks off at 9:00 pm (0100 GMT Tuesday). He added each topic has two 15-minute segments.
Clinton, 68, enters the fray as a polished former secretary of state, who after nearly 40 years of public service is very well versed on the issues. “For Trump, the bar isn’t very high”.
As many as 90 million people are expected to tune in as the pair face off at Hofstra University in NY six weeks before the November 8 election.
In the latest Reuters/Ipsos national tracking poll, Clinton leads Trump by 4 points. And he has work to do since majorities of voters say he doesn’t have the judgement or qualifications to be president.
In the recent NBC commander-in-chief forum, Clinton’s top aides said moderator Matt Lauer grilled Clinton a lot more intensely than Trump.
Television viewers are said to have judged Senator Kennedy the victor, and he went on to win the election.
Trump’s “Make America Great Again” theme has given an aspirational framework to his campaign in a way the “Hope” and “Change” themes did for Barack Obama in 2008 – a resonant core message that Clinton is lacking, Han said. But it’ll be interesting to see whether Clinton can make a convincing case that serious problems require a serious approach.
The debate, the first of three face-to-face matchups between the two candidates, will begin at 9pm on Monday (0100 GMT on Tuesday).
Yesterday morning, one of her campaign officials told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, “It’s unfair to ask Hillary both to play traffic cop with Trump, make sure that his lies are corrected, and also to present her vision for what she wants to do for the American people”. Trump has said the debate system is “rigged” against him and falsely accused NBC’s Lester Holt, the moderator for tonight’s debate, of being a registered Democrat. Trump, on the other hand, describes the country as already being in a nightmare, which will only get worse absent the singular solution: himself.
Her supporters are urging moderator Lester Holt to channel Candy Crowley.
A plurality of likely voters want to hear both Clinton and Trump talk about jobs and the economy, the poll found.
After the debate is over, the questions will, if anything, get even dumber, all about who “won”, who got off the best one-liners, and whether “expectations” were met.
Inclusion v. exclusion. Trump is running a campaign of white nationalism, telling Americans that they should fear and hate outsiders, immigrants, and pretty much anyone who doesn’t look or speak like you (and you know who “you” are).
And this year has been like none in the past, with Trump using social media around the clock in combative fashion, while often making mistakes, misstatements and blunders that do not seem to trouble his base.
First debate to be held today evening in NY.
Trump in turn says his debate practice is “going very well”, trying to at least appear relaxed.
He remained on the campaign trail this weekend, with a stop Saturday in southwestern Virginia. Trump later issued a statement pledging to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s “undivided capital” if elected. Just 37 percent say they don’t think the Democratic nominee should release more about her health, according to the Franklin Pierce/Herald poll.
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In addition, Clinton’s image has been sullied by Trump attacks over her email scandal, the Clinton Foundation’s alleged pay-to-play donations, and her ties to Wall Street. But we’re going to see who can answer the specific questions.
