Trump seeks ‘debate prep’ from backers
Apparently Donald Trump has decided to crowdsource Monday’s debate with Hillary Clinton.
While even some of his top supporters are increasingly worried that the GOP candidate doesn’t want to put in the time on “debate prep” for what he admits will be “the BIGGEST night of our campaign,” Trump has found a way around all those boring hours of work other, lesser candidates might need.
In a weekend message to “our strongest supporters,” loosely defined as registered Republicans with an email address, the Donald argued that he needs to know “what you want me to fight for on that stage” and attached a 30-question “Trump Debate Preparation Survey” to get that information.
“I’m only going on stage to be your voice,” Trump said in the message.
As for the survey questions themselves, most of them are of the “Hillary Clinton: Threat or Menace?” variety.
For example, he’d like to know whether Trump “should contrast his tellit-like-it-is attitude with Hillary’s running list of lies, corruption and deceit?” Or, perhaps, “should Trump contrast himself as a tough negotiator with Hillary’s history of waging endless wars that fail miserably?”
Then there are the slam-dunk guarantees, such as whether “Trump should refer to Hillary as ‘Crooked Hillary’ on the stage” or whether he should “criticize Hillary for praising Obamacare.” You can take those babies to the bank.
Trump also wants to know whether he should “focus more of his time attacking Hillary’s policies or defending his own agenda?”
It’s a pretty good bet that Clinton will have something to say about how much time Trump has to spend on defending himself and his plans.
— John Wildermuth Aiming young: Alarmed by sharp slippage in support among young voters, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton moved Monday to shore up her standing with Millennials, the 18-to-34 age group that now is larger than the Baby Boom generation that has dominated elections since World War II.
Speaking in Philadelphia, Clinton sought to forge a connection between young voters and her activism as a Baby Boomer during the Vietnam War and civil rights movement, also releasing an opinion piece, “What Millennials Have Taught Me.”
The youth vote famously helped elect President Obama in 2008, in part by defeating Clinton in those primaries. This year, they spurned Clinton again, flocking instead to Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Now they are frightening their elders by contemplating third-party candidates Jill Stein and Gary Johnson. Young votes are spilling to Johnson, which explains the bizarre phenomenon of the Libertarian Party candidate hurting Clinton more than the GOP, where small-government, free-market libertarianism is a major wing of the party.
Those young voters now have to decide whether they dislike Clinton enough to tip the election to GOP nominee Donald Trump.
— Carolyn Lochhead Too late now: A new poll by Morning Consult shows that both Republicans and Democrats have a big-time case of buyer’s remorse.
More than a year of angry campaigning and frantic political back-andforth seem to have convinced majorities of both Democrats and Republicans that Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were the wrong choices as their party’s nominee.
The poll didn’t, however, indicate who should have been picked instead. It’s also a little late for do-overs.
Better than 60 percent of registered voters, including 43 percent of Republicans, are convinced Trump was the wrong pick for the GOP.
Clinton shouldn’t be taking any victory laps, though, because 59 percent of voters believe that the Democrats messed up by picking the former secretary of state. And that number includes 41 percent of Democrats.
The poll of 1,861 registered voters, taken Sept. 15-16, gives Clinton a 42 percent to 40 percent lead over Trump among likely voters nationwide. But given the dismay expressed by voters, the election is likely to hinge on which candidate the public dislikes least.
“None of the above” for president?
— John Wildermuth District attorneys on attack: Among the 17 ballot measures facing California voters on Nov. 8, Proposition 57 is encountering some of the most vocal and heated opposition. Prop. 57 is Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to keep a lid on the state prison population by making some less-violent felons eligible for earlier parole.
Not surprisingly, the attacks are coming from district attorneys, who would lose some of their power to induce guilty pleas with threats of long fixed-term sentences.
A group affiliated with district attorneys, Stop57.com, is posting baseball-card-style photos of menacing prisoners accompanied by warnings that they may move in next door if Brown’s measure passes.
Unlike prosecutors, who are accountable to the public, the governorappointed parole board “can parole whomever it wants by whatever criteria (or lack of criteria) they desire,” declared Michele Hanisee, president of the Association of Los Angeles Deputy District Attorneys. Citing Brown’s recent appearance before The Chronicle’s editorial board, where he said he could “talk about this all day,” Hanisee said he should start talking to someone who can talk back, like prosecutors. Don’t count on it. “It is not debatable that these opponents of reform are peddling debunked myths about Prop. 57 without offering any solution,” said Dan Newman, spokesman for Yes on 57. — Bob Egelko