Clinton and Republican Donald Trump
Sunday as they head into their first
presidential debate with a new poll
showing them in a dead heat.
Mind games were on display as Trump
threatened to invite Gennifer Flowers, a
former lover of Bill Clinton, to watch
Monday’s high-stakes battle of wits from
a front-row seat.
Trump campaign manager Kellyanne
Conway said it was meant to show the
New York billionaire had ways “to get
inside the head of Hillary Clinton” but
she told CNN there were no plans to
invite Flowers.
“It’s a warning sign before the debate
has even started about Donald Trump’s
lack of fitness, his bullying tactics that
make him unfit to be president,” said
Clinton’s campaign manager, Robbie
Mook, on CNN.
As many as 90 million people are
expected to tune in when Trump and
Clinton face off at Hofstra University in
New York just six weeks before the
November 8 election.
Many analysts say debates usually don’t
win a candidate the election but can
well lose it for them. A single sentence,
or the slightest slip, can do serious
damage.
Clinton, 68, enters the fray with no
cushion. A Washington Post-ABC News
poll published Sunday found that her
slim advantage from last month has now
evaporated.
She is tied with Trump at 41 percent
among registered voters, with
Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson at
seven percent and Green Party
candidate Jill Stein at two percent,
according to the poll.
In a two-way match-up, Trump and
Clinton were even at 46 percent of
registered voters. The survey showed a
statistical tie among likely voters as well.
“I think this thing will be close right up
until the end,” said Clinton running
mate Tim Kaine. “We have to make our
case every day. The debates are a great
way to do that.”
Plenty of American voters will have
made a decision by now, to be sure.
Most have.
But nine percent by some estimates still
don’t know who to vote for, after a long
campaign in which bitter attacks have
often replaced talk of substance.
And this year has been like none in the
past, with Trump, 70, using social media
around the clock in combative fashion,
while often making mistakes,
misstatements and blunders without
troubling his base.
Clinton cram session
On Saturday, the New York Times
endorsed Clinton, who ahead of the
debates has been cloistered with aides
and her papers at home in Chappaqua,
north of New York, even practicing with
relatives playing Trump.
She has been focusing on his
psychological profile, with a goal to get
Trump to crack, to show that he can’t
control himself and lacks the even-
handed temperament a president needs.
If he reacts by attacking, Trump also
risks losing women’s votes; he already
has a harder time with women voters,
and they make up 53 percent of those
who turn out. And any slip is sure to be
a TV news sound bite.
Clinton’s campaign released a long list
of lies it attributed to Trump ahead of
the debate.
Trump in turn says preparations are
“going very well,” trying to at least
appear relaxed. On Friday he won the
endorsement of former conservative
rival Senator Ted Cruz.
Trump took Friday to prepare, and still
had to work Sunday on the debate. But
he continues with campaign rallies on
other days, including Saturday night in
Roanoke, Virginia.
Trump seems unwilling to train with a
Hillary stand-in. But he has watched
videos of his opponent in previous
debates.
‘Be yourself’
Clinton, making her second presidential
bid, is an old hand at debates and
considered solid. In some ways, she may
have more to lose.
After almost 40 years of public service,
she is very well versed on the issues,
and 88 percent of Americans believe she
is smart.
But in the latest poll 66 percent say they
do not find her honest. And 57 percent
have a negative opinion of a woman
they see as cerebral, distant or
cold. Trump’s negative numbers were
virtually identical.
Her image has been sullied by Trump
attacks over her email scandal, the
Clinton Foundation’s alleged pay-to-play
donations, and her ties to Wall Street.
“Be yourself and explain what motivates
you,” President Barack Obama suggested
to his former secretary of state, who as
president would carry on the legacy of
his two administrations.
Kaine has said of Clinton: “When the
spotlights are at the brightest and the
pressure is the most intense, that’s
when she brings her A-plus game.”
Trump has not yet experienced a
presidential debate: 90 minutes of
intense questioning, with only one
opponent and a moderator, who on
Monday will be NBC news anchor Lester
Holt.
But that does not worry the former
reality TV star. He is good on his feet,
and unpredictable, more comfortable in
the limelight than on issues. He has
promised to be “very respectful” with
Clinton.
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