Canceling a visit to riot-torn Charlotte, N.C. before Monday night’s debate at Hofstra University in Hemstead, Long Island, Democratic nominee former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton stayed holed up in debate prep at her home in Chappaqua, New York. Hillary’s been preparing for the Sept. 26 debate for over a month, with intense debate simulations going on for days. GOP nominee real estate tycoon Donald Trump has been going about his normal routine of campaigning, barely taking time to prepare for what promises to be an entertaining debate. “I think he’s putting himself at an incredible disadvantage,” said Brett O’Donnell, a Republican strategist who prepared former GOP nominee Mitt Romney to debate President Barack Obama in 2012. O’Donnell forgets that Trump’s already been through 11 GOP primary debates, with many of his rivals equally versed on the same issues as Hillary.
O’Donnell, like so many other political consultants, doesn’t get that candidates know best how to deal with what comes up during the debates. Knowledge of the issues only gets you so far, when moderators seek open-ended questions more than specific answers. Looking for style over substance, over-preparation harms candidates by making them look robotic, rehearsed and staged. Nothing kills a debate performance more than over-preparation. “If you simulate what could happen in the debates, then you understand how to handle those moments when the actually do happen,” said O’Donnell. Trump’s been carefully listening to Hillary’s attacks daily, know precisely how to respond when she raises campaign rhetoric during the debate. No matter what the preparation, candidates typically don’t remember how and when to throw in a staged zinger when appropriate.
Hillary’s attempt to get into Trump’s mind by having her underlings play him in essentially Moot Court won’t give her any more clues how to respond when NBC’s Lester Holt throws out the first question. While Hillary’s likely to bring up Trump University or past bankruptcy filings, Trump won’t be thrown off his game. He’s already been hit with everything but the kitchen sink in 11 past GOP debates, but, more importantly, daily attacks in the liberal press accusing him of racism, Kremlin-collusion and disrespecting Gold Star military families. When you think about it, Trump’s been under constant attack since he entered the race June 16, 2015. No one in the GOP took him seriously, thinking his Hollywood-like bombast would fizzle out. Whatever Hillary says about Trump, he’s heard it a million times by 17 other Republican candidates and other critics going for his jugular.
Unlike Hillary that must dot every “i” and cross every “t,” Trump’s going to let his instincts dictate how he’ll respond to Hillary’s attacks. While Hillary prepares for one-liners or to bate Trump into an inappropriate response, Trump’s already been there and done that. When you consider Hillary had no real competition with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) during the Democratic primaries, she’s far less battle-tested than Trump heading into Monday night. Called a fraud, con artist, fake, phony and failure by his GOP rivals, there’s little Hillary can add to the list of insults. When the public sizes up Trump v. Hillary, they’ll see Hillary trying to discredit one of the icons in modern American business. Trump’s brand precedes his political career and will no doubt continue no matter what happens Nov. 8. Voters know that it’s fruitless for Hillary to question Trump’s success.
When you think of Hillary’s biggest challenge, she’ll have to run, dodge, duck and hide from a long political record, including real decisions with real consequences while Secretary of State. Trump needs only raise her record as U.S. Senator or Secretary of State to prove his point that, with all of Hillary’s vast experience, she lacks the judgment for the Oval Office. Raising the ongoing email scandal and cover-up of some missing 33,000 emails, Hillary’s going to have to tap dance herself out of what’s become real issues about her trustworthiness and credibility. There’s noting over-preparation can do for Hillary to ignore what Trump plans to bring up during the debate. O’Donnell talked about Romney’s nth degree debate prep, only to watch Mitt lose badly to Barack. No one on Hillary’s debate team can begin to anticipate how Trump’s instincts will play out Monday night.
Trump’s debate preparation comes not from mock debates but from his past experience in 11 GOP debates. There’s little Hillary can bring up that hasn’t also been raised by Trump’s GOP colleagues. No presidential candidate from a major party has endured more criticism from his own Party than Trump. Hillary hasn’t been taken to task during what amounted to a phony Democratic Party nominating process, ending with the termination of Democratic Committee Chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (R-Fl.) for fixing the primaries for Hillary. Hillary’s real test comes Monday night when she forced to confront her record, especially decisions as Secretary of State, how she dealt with classified material and what she did to destroy email evidence while running the State Department. Trump’s best debate prep comes from daily hazing by the press, Hillary and his own Party.
