Well, everybody, it's...ugh. It's here. Yes, hold your loved ones and lock your doors as we bear witness to what most certainly will be a new low for American politics, the American people, and Western Democracy itself. Of course, I am talking about the 2016 Presidential Debates.
Whether you're for Trump, Clinton, or remembering a time when the presidency was campaigned for by sane candidates these debates these debates are sure to be another gut punch for America's pride and dignity. Nevertheless, here's what everyone should expect in the upcoming debates.
The Moderator
The Moderator is a man by the name of Lester Holt NBC's Nightly News Anchor. Hillary Clinton has had no comment on the moderator while Trump has called Lester Holt (a registered Republican) biased against him and is calling foul.
That being said there is a rising controversy as to whether moderators should fact check the debaters. Hillary believes the moderators should act as fact checkers and Trump is against moderators fact checking.
Style of Debate
Trump
As we've all seen during the primaries Trump is a bombastic debater that tries to win with zingers and deflects elaborating on policy with empty phrases like "we got to get tough" or "trust me, we'll find a way". This style is great for energizing the crowd and whipping up the base but unfortunately, there are a few flaws to this strategy.
First and foremost the presidential debates are 90 minutes long with only two people on the stage. This is opposed to the primaries which were about 2 hours long and had 16 people on the stage. This is substantially more time that Trump has to talk. Unless he wants to repeat himself to an embarrassing degree he's going to have to make up a for a lot of missed time when it comes to explaining himself. The off the cuff style speaking worked well for him in the debates but it has caused problems for him since receiving the nomination.
Clinton
Clinton has always relied on a knowledge of the issues and platform credibility to make up for what is otherwise an unimpressive performance. She tends to not fire up the crowd or whip people into a frenzy but that would most likely not be her plan anyhow when debating Trump.
Strategy/Preparation
Trump
Trump's preparation for the debate is fairly unknown. He has events scheduled for the week leading up to it and has no known mock trials or anything of the nature set up. A top level Trump official has said that he has been given an iPad full of Clinton debate film and one must assume he has watched it but, to the best of our knowledge, there has been no official preparation. It appears his strategy would be the "off the cuff" inflammatory remarks that served him well in the primaries.
Clinton
Clinton on the opposite hand has cleared out her week for practice. She has brought in policy advisors, lawyers, political strategists and operatives to help her train and has been studying Trump footage and holding mock debates. Her strategy will most likely revolve around trying to goad Trump into saying the wrong thing or to have extensive knowledge for calling him out on past lies.
Topics
Three topics have been announced for the debate with each one taking up two fifteen-minute sections. These topics are America's Direction, Achieving Prosperity, and Securing America.
America's Direction (Granted "America's Direction" is a bit of a vague setting but I believe it to be
discussing America's ideological future)
Trump
This will most likely be Trump's opportunity to push his "America First" ideology and his diplomatic plans for NATO.
Hillary
Hillary will be pushing forward a platform of diplomatic cooperation and international unity. She will most likely attack Trump's ideas, most specifically in his abandonment of NATO and cozying up to Putin.
Achieving Prosperity
Trump
Trump will, no doubt, use this as a segway to brag about his fortune and business acumen. He will most likely take this opportunity to attack Mexico and China for trade deals along with illegal immigrants and other groups he's accused of draining the U.S economy.
Clinton
Clinton will take this opportunity to take about income inequality in America. She will most likely try and mimic Bernie Sander's platform as much as possible to try and reel in his support group.
Securing America
Trump
Is there any doubt to what Trump will do here? He'll reinstate his old rhetoric playing of the xenophobia of his base to attack Muslims, illegals, and use generic phrases such as "we've got to get tough" or "we're going to hit them hard"
Clinton
Clinton does not have much to specifically bring to the table here. She will claim to be continuing Obama's policy (possibly citing the oncoming fall of Mosul as a credit) yet her real opportunity here would be to try and cross-examine Trump and begin poking holes in his beliefs.
Whatever the results are, there are no doubts in my mind that this will be ridiculous, degrading, and no better than the garbage the American people have forced upon one another in this sesspool of an election.
