Clinton, Trump to face off today
Presidential debate comes amid political turmoil in New York
HEMPSTEAD >> Long Island will host a debate Monday night that promises to be the biggest ever held, another first for the Empire State in a raucous presidential year.
As many as 100 million viewers are expected to tune in to the first debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump at Hofstra University. It is expected to rank as one of
the most-watched events in television history, with viewership comparable to the Super Bowl, which drew 118 million viewers this year.
The debate will be the first between two nominees from New York state and, obviously, the first between male and female presidential candidates in American history. Shirley Chisholm, Geraldine Ferraro and Sarah Palin were the trailblazers in women running for national office, but Hillary Clinton is poised to make history if she is elected in November.
If past debates are any clue, the edge may go to Clinton, whose 2000 debate with Republican Rick Lazio is credited with helping her immensely when both were running for an open seat in the U.S. Senate. Lazio broke with protocol and left his podium spot to invade Clinton’s personal space, a move that backfired with many viewers who saw it as chauvinistic, bullying and intimidating.
Clinton took a shot at Trump on those same grounds Thursday, posting a video on Twitter under the line “He’s 70 years old and he’s still a bully.”
As for Trump, he kept busy last week, both in campaign appearances and online taunts.
“Hillary Clinton is taking the day off again, she needs the rest,” he posted on Twitter. “Sleep well Hillary - see you at the debate!”
Trump hasn’t gone faceto-face with Clinton yet, but he has spared her no quarter. His attacks on her health, integrity and family life are unprecedented in modern presidential campaigns, to the point where his challenge for her to drop Secret Service protection was seen by some Democrats and editorial writers as an open invitation for an assassination attempt.
Authorities on Long Island expect as many as 10,000 people to mass on the Hofstra campus, which is hosting a presidential debate for the third campaign. The college got the nod after an Ohio college backed out, citing security concerns.
Green Party activists have promised to protest outside the building after its nominee, Jill Stein, wasn’t invited to participate, along with Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, because they failed to meet a polling threshold of 15 percent. Stein said she and about 100 supporters may stage a civil disobedience sit-in.
The debate comes after a week that once again put a spotlight on New York as both the nation’s No. 1 target for terrorists and the heavyweight champion of political sleaze. Besides the arrest on corruption charges of three associates of Gov. Andrew Cuomo and several prominent upstate developers on corruption charges, the week saw former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner allegedly caught sexting about rape fantasies with a 15-yearold girl.
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara has opened an investigation into Weiner’s latest alleged incident, which marks the fourth time the Democrat has been involved in a sexting controversy. The first led to his resigning his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, while his wife, top Clinton aide Huma Abedin, left him after the third incident.
Word of the probe came hours after Bharara had the FBI round up former top Cuomo aide Joe Percoco, a trusted confidante of both Cuomo and his father, the late Gov. Mario Cuomo, and other charged in a sweeping bribery, extortion and fraud scandal involving the alleged rigging of bids on contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
The Commission on Presidential Debates says moderator Lester Holt of NBC News picked the three topics that will be discussed Monday night (subject to change in case of breaking news): “America’s Direction, Achieving Prosperity and Securing America.”
Holt will moderate the debate thanks to another made in New York scandal. He replaced Brian Williams in the anchor chair for NBC Nightly News after the longtime anchor was caught lying about this exploits as a war correspondent.
More debates are scheduled for Oct. 4 in Virginia, Oct. 9 in St. Louis and Oct. 19 in Las Vegas.