Thread: Hillary Clinton Prepping for Two Trumps at Debate

Hillary Clinton Prepping for Two Trumps at Debate

Aides say she must make a positive case while reminding voters of GOP rival’s most controversial comments


Hillary Clinton is spending multiple hours getting ready for the first debate. Above, she speaks to reporters Monday in White Plains, N.Y. Photo: Carlos Barria/Reuters

Sept. 20, 2016 7:47 p.m. ET

Hillary Clinton is preparing for two different foes in Monday’s presidential debate: an on-message, disciplined Donald Trump and a freewheeling, more provocative Donald Trump.

The Democratic nominee has cleared her schedule on multiple days to test arguments and practice for her first 90-minute matchup with the GOP nominee.

This week, she has convened a small group of top advisers to run through potential questions and help her anticipate an assortment of scenarios.

In contrast, Mr. Trump has played down the value of doing dry runs and warned of the perils of over-preparation.

In mock debates and closed-door sessions that last hours, Mrs. Clinton and her top advisers are prepping ways to use Mr. Trump’s own words against him.

Campaign officials say Mrs. Clinton also must make a positive case for her candidacy while reminding voters of her rival’s most controversial comments.

The Clinton campaign has employed a similar strategy during the past few months in ads and speeches highlighting Mr. Trump’s own statements.

Clinton aides worry, though, that if the two candidates spend 90 minutes attacking each another, that won’t be enough to persuade undecided voters to back the former secretary of state.

Mrs. Clinton said in an email to supporters on Tuesday that she’s taken part in many debates, “but Monday’s is the most important.”

For his part, Mr. Trump has argued that the debates are rigged and the moderators biased, while still expressing confidence about his prospects. He told Fox News on Monday that if Mrs. Clinton treated him with respect, he would do the same—before previewing some of the verbal punches he might throw.

“I can talk about her deleting emails after she gets a subpoena from Congress and lots of other things,” Mr. Trump said. “I can talk about her record, which is a disaster. I can talk about all she’s done to help ISIS become the terror that they’ve become, and I will be doing that.” Support staff to Mrs. Clinton deleted an email archive in 2015 even though the records were under subpoena by Congress, the FBI has reported.

The Clinton team isn’t counting on Mr. Trump losing his cool or saying something outrageous. But campaign chairman John Podesta said he doubts the GOP nominee is doing enough to gain a command of the issues.

“He’s used to being on TV. He can moderate and modify his style. But I don’t think he’ll learn anything because that would take preparation that I actually think is beyond his capacity,” Mr. Podesta said.

Kevin Madden, a Republican strategist and former adviser to 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney, said that if Mr. Trump isn’t studying briefing books, he no doubt is undertaking his own brand of debate prep. “What I don’t find believable is that they don’t have a strategy,” he said of the Trump team. “I expect that they will be very prepared in that sense.”

Monday’s debate will be the first one-on-one matchup for Mr. Trump. During the primaries, he faced fewer questions from moderators when he shared a stage with a field of Republican rivals.

Clinton campaign officials expressed concern that Mr. Trump could be seen as the winner if he clears the low bar of avoiding outrageous statements.
Ron Klain, a former aide to President Barack Obama and chief of staff to Vice President Joe Biden, and Karen Dunn, a former White House aide and Clinton adviser, are leading Mrs. Clinton’s debate prep sessions. Also participating in addition to Mr. Podesta are top campaign aides Jake Sullivan, Joel Benenson and Jennifer Palmieri; media consultants Jim Margolis and Mandy Grunwald; and Robert Barnett, a prominent Washington lawyer and longtime Clinton friend.

The identity of Mrs. Clinton’s Trump stand-in remains a closely held secret.

David Axelrod, a former top adviser to President Barack Obama, said Mrs. Clinton faces a challenge in debating Mr. Trump, because “he is unpredictable and can be volatile.” He likened the unknowns to those in 2008, when then-Sen. Joe Biden debated the little-known governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, in a vice presidential matchup. Mr. Biden benefited from multiple mock debates that prepared him for the unexpected, Mr. Axelrod said.

“I don’t know who’s playing Donald Trump,” he said of Mrs. Clinton’s practice sessions. “That person has an enormous responsibility to expose her to the reality of what Donald Trump might be.”

Mr. Obama favored multiday “debate camps” held on resorts or other remote locations. Mrs. Clinton has held debate practices on days when she is scheduled to be at home in Chappaqua, N.Y.

Former President Bill Clinton occasionally drops by the sessions and offers feedback. “I just go and listen, and if I think they can make a point better, I’ll say it,” he said. “I think she’s done real well in these debates.”

While Monday’s encounter at Hofstra University likely will provide the presidential candidates with their biggest audience to date, campaign veterans cautioned against expecting the three presidential debates to alter the trajectory of the race.

“They’re additional pieces of evidence that voters get and find useful,” said Anita Dunn, a former Obama communications director who participated in his 2012 debate preparations. “But they’re usually not the turning point of a campaign.”

http://www.wsj.com/articles/hillary-...ate-1474415274

While Hillary practices on "two Trumps" Trump was out compaigning at Two Rallies! I like his style and mission must better.