Inside Debate Prep: Clinton’s Careful Case vs. Trump’s ‘WrestleMania’

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Trump doesn't have to use a teleprompter. He chooses to to make the RNC happy.

And it "makes the RNC happy" because Trump is a bumbling, incoherent buffoon who sinks in the polls everytime he goes off-script and who'd never complete a spoken sentence without going on 12 different tangents in the absence of a teleprompter.

But of course, Trump doesn't need to use teleprompters, cue cards or anything else. It's not like the dude's been relying on them for years due to his now-canceled, pretend-job-hiring show.

He doesn't need that show any more. People are now paying him to play the same character pretending to run for President.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Is this surprising? Hillary is taking this seriously, because she understands the stakes. Trump, meanwhile, thinks this is all a game and is treating it as such.

[Badger]

This isn't the worst prep for Trump. Expectations are SOOOOO (justifiably ) low for him, that a few well practiced zingers with that media-savvy lot will inevitably make soundbites the next day. Combine that with almost everyone already expects Trump to say something outlandis, and fewer people even care anymore , and it might be enough for the media to spin it as a "tie", or at least Trump got some good shots in too".

[Maxwell]

This isn't the worst prep for Trump. Expectations are SOOOOO (justifiably ) low for him, that a few well practiced zingers with that media-savvy lot will inevitably make soundbites the next day. Combine that with almost everyone already expects Trump to say something outlandis, and fewer people even care anymore , and it might be enough for the media to spin it as a "tie", or at least Trump got some good shots in too".

that is my biggest fear.

[Gustaf]

This isn't the worst prep for Trump. Expectations are SOOOOO (justifiably ) low for him, that a few well practiced zingers with that media-savvy lot will inevitably make soundbites the next day. Combine that with almost everyone already expects Trump to say something outlandis, and fewer people even care anymore , and it might be enough for the media to spin it as a "tie", or at least Trump got some good shots in too".

that is my biggest fear.

Yup, same here. I think the best bet for Team Clinton is that he fcks up somehow. And I think odds of that are pretty good.

[Erich Maria Remarque]

This isn't the worst prep for Trump. Expectations are SOOOOO (justifiably ) low for him, that a few well practiced zingers with that media-savvy lot will inevitably make soundbites the next day. Combine that with almost everyone already expects Trump to say something outlandis, and fewer people even care anymore , and it might be enough for the media to spin it as a "tie", or at least Trump got some good shots in too".

[HagridOfTheDeep]

This isn't the worst prep for Trump. Expectations are SOOOOO (justifiably ) low for him, that a few well practiced zingers with that media-savvy lot will inevitably make soundbites the next day. Combine that with almost everyone already expects Trump to say something outlandis, and fewer people even care anymore , and it might be enough for the media to spin it as a "tie", or at least Trump got some good shots in too".

that is my biggest fear.

Yup, same here. I think the best bet for Team Clinton is that he fcks up somehow. And I think odds of that are pretty good.

She needs to demand specifics and call him out on every bad answer. She needs to forbid him from pivoting and trap him with his previous words. She needs zingers that allude to the fact that he has no idea what he's talking about. She needs to goad him into saying something offensive. All of the above are important parts of her attack strategy.

For defense, she's gotta know her sh-t, prove that she's level headed, and not get prickly when Trump says outrageous lies.

Difficult balance, but if she can pull off all of the above, it's a walk.

[Badger]

This isn't the worst prep for Trump. Expectations are SOOOOO (justifiably ) low for him, that a few well practiced zingers with that media-savvy lot will inevitably make soundbites the next day. Combine that with almost everyone already expects Trump to say something outlandis, and fewer people even care anymore , and it might be enough for the media to spin it as a "tie", or at least Trump got some good shots in too".

that is my biggest fear.

Yup, same here. I think the best bet for Team Clinton is that he fcks up somehow. And I think odds of that are pretty good.

She needs to demand specifics and call him out on every bad answer. She needs to forbid him from pivoting and trap him with his previous words. She needs zingers that allude to the fact that he has no idea what he's talking about. She needs to goad him into saying something offensive. All of the above are important parts of her attack strategy.

For defense, she's gotta know her sh-t, prove that she's level headed, and not get prickly when Trump says outrageous lies.

Difficult balance, but if she can pull off all of the above, it's a walk.

Honestly, if she can get 1 or 2 sound bite funny zingers on Trump that can make even undecideds with negative views of her chuckle, and do so without sounding (too) rehersed, that will earn her a lot of points.