Some pundits expect the upcoming debate to reach a staggering 100 million. “You have to have somebody that just lets them argue it out”. “We as Americans have always been able to look at the wacky leaders of other countries and say ‘Phew, that’s not us.’ We couldn’t if Trump wins”.
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In a year when voters are clearly ready for change and disgusted with the status quo, Trump has the advantage of being the outsider. But she has to prove that she’s more honest, trustworthy and likable than most voters think.
He called Iowa and Virginia, where Clinton’s lead has narrowed from 45 to 34 percent a month ago to 45 to 39 percent, a metaphor for what’s happening in the presidential race.
Thomas Pickering, who represented the U.S. in Israel from 1985 to 1988 under former President Ronald Reagan, and Dan Kurtzer, an Orthodox Jew who held that same post from 2001 to 2005 under former President George W. Bush, are each signatories of the newly-released statement affirming that, “None of us will vote for Donald J. Trump”.
Democrat Clinton has seen her once commanding lead shrink against Republican Trump’s bombast. As long as he doesn’t say something outrageous that’s racist or sexist, he wins the night.
Mr Trump relied on his famed spontaneity to fire off one-line zingers to dismantle 16 Republican rivals during the primaries, dispatching “low-energy” Jeb Bush or “lying Ted” Cruz and “little Marco” Rubio.
This could be a tricky one for Trump.
Should the moderators serve as a truth squad – a version of the “Crowley effect” – for moderator Candy Crowley’s 2012 debate performance in which she corrected Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney? Trump will probably try to avoid any obviously sexist put-downs.
Voters are also slightly more likely to trust Trump than Clinton on handling gun laws, 39 per cent to 35 per cent.
In a memo from Sean Spicer, the chief strategist for the Republican National Committee, the GOP’s offical expectations for Trump at the debate are not promising. He has a commanding physical presence and a “huuuge” personality.
“You’re just not sure who is going to show up”, said Jennifer Palmieri, a senior adviser to Mrs Clinton.
History shows that a single bad debate performance can alter the trajectory of a USA presidential race. But when he tried to talk in depth about his own policy proposals, he was out of his depth. As I wrote in May, Kimmel and NBC’s Jimmy Fallon – whose audience is only slightly more liberal – generally stick to surface-level jokes that portray Trump as daffy but not unsafe. Indeed, in the next seven weeks Trump would have to pull off big upsets in states like Pennsylvania or New Hampshire, which, at the moment, seem comfortably seated in “blue” territory.
There are three phases to a debate: pre-game expectation setting, the debate itself and the post-game battle to control the perceptions of who won and who lost.
Some 80 million people or more are expected to tune in to the first of three presidential debates and, in such a close race, the faceoffs are likely to have a big impact on the November 8 outcome.
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Each debate will be broadcast live on ABC, CBS, C-SPAN, FOX and NBC, as well as all cable news channels including CNN, Fox News and MSNBC among others.
