So the presidential election debates are almost upon us and one can safely assume that we will not get 90 minutes of reasoned argument.Donald Trump’s prime tactic during the primary debates was to hurl abuse at his rivals. Marco Rubio was “the little guy”, Ted Cruz was “the basket case”. So it is reasonable to assume that Mr Trump will hammer away at “Crooked Hillary” – hoping to bring her down in much the same way as “Little Marco” and “Lying Ted”. Capitalising on Benghazi and the email scandal, he believes he can secure victory with the backing of millions of voters who would not trust Mrs Clinton further than they could throw her.
So how does she counter this? A
forensic examination of the Trump tax plans may play well with the
chattering classes, but Mrs Clinton has their backing anyway. Her lead
among college graduates is pretty overwhelming. Similarly, trying to
ride on the coattails of the now popular Barack Obama will do little
more than bring out the people who would probably vote for her
anyway. She needs a rather different approach to peel off the angry
white working class which catapulted Mr Trump to the Republican
nomination in the first place.
US presidential debates - key moments
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02:02
Of course, Mrs Clinton has one
big advantage: Donald Trump, a candidate who has managed to alienate
women, minorities and even, so it appears, a goodly number of “golf
course” Republicans. Mrs Clinton has to get the message across that her
indiscretions and tendency to be economical with the truth pale into
insignificance when set against the scandals of Trump University, the
Trump Foundation, the billionaire’s colourful business career littered
with bankruptcies and his refusal to release his tax returns.
Michelle Obama gives powerful speech backing Hillary Clinton
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00:37
There are signs that she will do
just that. Finally allowing reporters onto her plane, she made it pretty
clear that she sees her opponent’s integrity and his chequered business
career as as a campaign issue. “The list goes on and on, the scams, the
frauds, the questionable relationships,” she said.
Using football parlance, Mrs Clinton needs to play the man as much as she plays the ball. Her task in the debates is to get under Trump’s skin, provoking an indiscretion which would do irreparable damage to his poll numbers.
Using football parlance, Mrs Clinton needs to play the man as much as she plays the ball. Her task in the debates is to get under Trump’s skin, provoking an indiscretion which would do irreparable damage to his poll numbers.
Presidential debate history shows
that candidates have been holed below the waterline by gaffes.
Arguably, Gerald Ford’s campaign never recovered after he said there was
no Soviet domination of eastern Europe.
At times it can be a clumsy gesture. George H. W. Bush did himself few favours by looking at his watch during a debate with Bill Clinton in 1992. It left voters with the impression he had better things to do with his time. Al Gore’s repeated sighing while George W. Bush spoke was, to put it mildly, hardly good PR.
Many believe Richard Nixon’s sweating, five o’clock shadow and general appearance of shiftiness in the 1960 debate cost him the election against the youthful and telegenic JFK.
Mrs Clinton has repeatedly said that Donald Trump is temperamentally unfit to have his finger on the nuclear button. If she can use the debates to convince voters that the volatile, unpredictable Trump is just too big a risk, then she should be set fair for November.
At times it can be a clumsy gesture. George H. W. Bush did himself few favours by looking at his watch during a debate with Bill Clinton in 1992. It left voters with the impression he had better things to do with his time. Al Gore’s repeated sighing while George W. Bush spoke was, to put it mildly, hardly good PR.
Many believe Richard Nixon’s sweating, five o’clock shadow and general appearance of shiftiness in the 1960 debate cost him the election against the youthful and telegenic JFK.
Mrs Clinton has repeatedly said that Donald Trump is temperamentally unfit to have his finger on the nuclear button. If she can use the debates to convince voters that the volatile, unpredictable Trump is just too big a risk, then she should be set fair for November.
