How will Trump come off in the debates?

[Fuzzy Bear Loves Christian Missionaries]

Reagan destroyed Carter in debate.

The reason is that "debates" are not real debates.  My wife is a former college debater and knows what a real debate is.  What passes for "debates" are really little more than joint press conferences.

Reagan was intellectually lazy, and he demolished Carter because the debates aren't quiz shows.  His "There you go again!" line was devastating.  It took a minimal amount of intellectual effort and policy wonkishness to deliver, and it ended Carter's chances for re-election; he was in it up until that debate.

Hillary is more of a political animal than Carter ever was, but she doesn't have the supply of trust at a personal level as Carter did.  To the end, most folks viewed Carter as a honest and decent man of integrity, even if they didn't think much else of him than that.  Hillary doesn't have that reservoir, and will be more vulnerable to Trump's attacks.  People will not feel sorry for Hillary when the mud starts flying, and it WILL fly in both directions.

Whatever the outcome of the election, I'm predicting that Trump "wins" the debates.  He will gain more and lose less in them than Hillary will. 

[Fuzzy Bear Loves Christian Missionaries]

"I will do X great again! Fast! So fast! Believe me!"
"Crooked Hillary will NEVER be able to handle is! We have to stop her!"
"The system is rigged. Your question is rigged!"
"Lyin' Hillary refuses to say the words RADICAL ISLAM!"


Will it work? I don't know

Trump got a lot of traction out of the "rigged system" issue because he exposed the rigging.  He pointed out that in the audience of the GOP debates was a huge number of Establishment Donors, and that the RNC controlled attendance to these debates.  People LOVED that because it was the kind of being let in on a secret that folks WANT from their candidates. 

The upcoming debates will be different; there will be no more than 2-3 candidates on stage, and probably just Hillary.  The "rigged" issue will be much harder to advance, and the opponent will not be interested in any 11th commandment; it'll be slash and burn.  There will be no good will at this debate; indeed, I wonder if there will even be a handshake at any point of the debate.