The final hours before the first 2016 presidential debate on Sunday
seemed more like the eve of Super Bowl -- with experts offering
predictions and strategies, the Clinton and Trump campaigns posturing
and Americans wondering who indeed has first-row tickets.
Arguments about whether Republican presidential
nominee Donald Trump or Democratic rival Hillary Clinton would do better
on substance or style were indeed largely overshadowed this weekend by
Trump suggesting Saturday that he’d invite Gennifer Flower, with whom
Clinton’s husband, former President Bill Clinton, has acknowledged
having a sexual encounter.
GOP vice-presidential nominee Mike Pence told “Fox
News Sunday” that Trump was merely mocking the Clinton campaign for
confirming that Trump nemesis-entrepreneur Mark Cuban was indeed invited
to a front-row seat at the Hofstra University debate.
He argued the campaign was really trying to “distract
attention from where the American people are going to be focused,”
which is picking a president to chart the future of America.
However, the Indiana governor’s comments did little to end the debate sideshow.
“It’s legitimate to have a business person sitting
there who's been advocating for you because of your economic policies,”
Clinton campaign strategist Joel Benenson told “Fox News Sunday.”
Former Obama campaign official Stephanie Cutter later
told NBC’s “Meet the Press" that Clinton and Trump are “trying to throw
each other off their game.”
“The difference is that Hillary Clinton is doing it
with a legitimate businessman, also a celebrity,” she said. “Trump is
just jumping right down in the sewer and swimming by inviting Gennifer
Flowers.”
Clinton, a former New York senator and secretary of
state, and Trump, a first-time candidate and reality TV star, are
essentially tied with Election Day about six weeks away, according to
essentially every major poll.
And their debate preparations are reflective of their
paths to success -- with Clinton off the campaign trail to study
briefing books at her Westchester, N.Y., home and participate in mock
debates
Longtime Clinton aide Philippe Reines, a combative
political operative, is purportedly playing Trump in the rehearsals. And
President Clinton has sat in on some sessions, offering advice from his
own White House debates.
Trump has eschewed traditional debate preparations
but has held midflight policy discussions with a rotating cast of
advisers. He's also spent numerous Sundays batting around ideas with
aides.
He remained on the campaign trail this weekend, with a stop Saturday in southwestern Virginia.
Trump’s loose approach is potentially risky,
considering he is new to the many policy issues expected to come up
during the debate. But advisers contend he will compensate by being
quick on his feet and point to his experience at performing under
pressure.
"Imagine the practice and the training of 13 years of
reality television on 'The Apprentice' and then imagine Hillary's
experience reading hundreds of papers," said Newt Gingrich, the former
GOP House speaker and a Trump adviser who has been talking through
policy with the candidate in recent days.
The 90-minute debate in Long Island, N.Y., is
expected to attract 75 million viewers -- many of them disenchanted with
both candidates, the least-popular presidential hopefuls in history.
On Sunday, Clinton campaign aides express concern
about Trump's habit of saying things that might be untrue and voters’
general distrust of Clinton.
Robby Mook, Clinton's campaign manager, on ABC’s
“This Week” called on NBC debate moderator Lester Holt to correct
inaccuracies made by the candidates. But Trump's campaign manager,
Kellyanne Conway, said it's not the job of debate moderators to fact
check.
The Clinton aides also fear Trump will be judged more
for his performance than his grasp of the numerous challenges that pass
across a president's desk.
Trump will likely need to prove to voters that he has
the policy depth and gravitas to serve as commander in chief. Clinton
will likely need to connect with Americans who question whether she can
be trusted.
Clinton will be the first woman to take the stage in a presidential general election debate.
Trump emerged as the Republican nominee in an
improbable primary run in which he gave an overall, solid debate
performance amid a huge field of established politicians and debaters.
However, he will not likely be able to resort on
Monday to the personal attacks that doomed such primary rivals as GOP
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
People familiar with Clinton's preparations say she
has been working on addressing possible questions about her lack of
trustworthiness, a problem that has dogged her throughout the campaign.
Supporters cringed during a candidate forum earlier
this month when Clinton was pressed about her use of a private server
system while running the State Department and became defensive, rather
than apologizing and trying to move on quickly.
Clinton has debated more than 30 times at the
presidential level, including several one-on-one debates with Barack
Obama in 2008 and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in 2016.
But this will be her first presidential debate against a candidate from an opposing party.
"It's a lot more comfortable running against people
in the other party than it is debating in the primary," said Anita Dunn,
who worked on debate preparations with Obama. "The differences don't
have to be manufactured. The differences exist."