Pitfalls galore as they face off in 1st debate
DONALD TRUMP and Hillary Clinton will mix it up mano a mano for the first time Monday, a debate grudge match with potentially huge consequences.
Predictions for the audience are sky-high. Some experts guess the Hofstra University debate will draw upward of 100 million viewers, a debate record that would rival Super Bowl ratings.
Here are three things we’re watching on what could be the biggest night of the 2016 presidential race. l Will anyone overreach? It’s very hard to win a debate — but easy to lose one. With a few exceptions, the most impactful presidential debate moments were missteps like Rick Perry’s “oops” moment the last time around and Gerald The 2016 first general election presidential debate Hofstra University, Hempstead, L.I. Monday at 9 p.m. The debate will run for 90 minutes without commercial breaks. The debate Ford’s 1976 declaration that “there is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe.”
Strong debate performances can reassure wavering voters. But in the current polarized environment, a clever zinger is unlikely to win huge new blocs of voters. A screwup or nasty moment, however, can undo months of careful campaign planning.
“Donald Trump needs demonstrate that he can to be will air live on all major TV networks, including NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox. It will also air live on C-SPAN and all the major cable news networks, including CNN, MSNBC and Fox News Channel — and on those networks' websites. presidential, that he has the capacity and substance to govern, and she has to talk to the American people in a way that they feel like they can trust her,” said Rep. Charles Dent (R-Pa.), a moderate who has said he won’t vote for either candidate.
Democrats are hoping Clinton can come off as warm and authentic, something she’s better at in debates than during prepared speeches. And some hope she can needle Trump into lashing out with one of his trademark bullying attacks, like her 2000 New York U.S. Senate opponent Rick Lazio did when he approached her podium during a debate.
But that poses risks, too. As Marco Rubio found out, trading schoolyard insults with Trump can be like wrestling a pig. “You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it,” George Bernard Shaw once said.
“She’s never faced anything like this before. He’s a unique candidate, and you never know what he might do. So it’s hard to prepare for someone who is that unpredictable,” Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) told the Daily News.
“Particularly when you have somebody as potentially erratic and potentially nasty as Mr. Trump, your ability not to get thrown and to be able to respond in a way that is effective is very important,” Sen. Dianne Fein-