Republican candidate Donald Trump faces Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton tonight, in the first debate of the U.S. presidential election.
A Super Bowl-sized audience will supposedly be tuning in, likely curious about how the two candidates will react to one another — and about who will win.
But how do you go about winning an election debate? Global News got some interesting and somewhat contradictory advice from two longtime debate watchers.
The U.S. presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton begins at 9pm ET and will be livestreamed on Globalnews.ca here.
1. Don’t lose.
Seems obvious, right? But not losing is more important than winning, according to Tim Powers, vice-chairman of Summa Strategies and a former Conservative strategist. He said it’s usually a bad move to go into a debate hoping for a knockout punch. It’s rarely going to happen like that.
“I think if you’re wise you tend to try to play these things safe,” he said. What that means in real terms is to not say or do anything that the other side can use to turn the campaign against you.
Powers thinks Trump should review the New York Senate debate from 2000 between Hillary Clinton and Rick Lazio. In that debate, Lazio aggressively pushed Clinton on an issue, even coming over to her podium to demand that she sign a document.
After that debate, Clinton’s campaign was able to spin that move as a sexist power play, which damaged Lazio’s support.
Trump should be cautious of making a big move like that, thinks Powers, as it could easily backfire.
2. Be likeable.
Sure, most people try their whole lives to seem more likeable. Try doing it while being asked tough questions, under hot lights and with an audience of millions.
But in Powers’ opinion, debates are less about what the candidates say and more about the impression they give.
Audiences don’t want to see candidates lecturing and hectoring. “You want to give reasonable answers. You don’t want to get caught having your buttons pushed too much. You want to show a little bit of humour if you can. You want to smile a bit, because you are talking through the camera to the audience. You want to look calm when pressure is put upon you.”
If that sounds like a lot, it is. But candidates have to seem like more than the negative stereotypes that their opponents would have the voters believe they are.
So, Clinton should worry about appearing condescending or a know-it-all, and Trump should try not to seem like a bully, says Powers.
3. Realize most people probably aren’t watching.
Most people won’t watch the full debate, said Nelson Wiseman, a political science professor at the University of Toronto.
“What they see, they might catch a little snippet. Very few people want to sit down for the whole two hours. I don’t, when it’s incredibly repetitive,” he said. “I know that tomorrow on CNN they’ll have all the highlights.”
So candidates need to adjust their strategy. Instead of delivering long lectures, they need to deliver media-friendly sound bites, or repeat their messages over and over. Liberal leader Justin Trudeau did this in Canada’s recent election debates, said Wiseman, so news producers had to choose a clip that pushed his message — simply because that was all they had.
And delivering your message effectively helps too. “The media have an interest, as you do, in grabbing the most sensationalist exchanges.”
WATCH: Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are just hours away from their first presidential debate. NBC’s Steve Handelsman reports.
4. Prepare, but be spontaneous.
Candidates want to prepare as much as possible, said Wiseman. “Both debaters will have some lines that they want to use, but also some counter-points for what will be thrown at them.”
Preparation isn’t everything though.
“Preparation is important, but from my observation, sometimes what works best is something that’s totally spontaneous. Conscious, but spontaneous. The public often picks up on that. They say, ‘Oh, that didn’t come from anything that was programmed. It came from the gut and it came very quickly.’”
Candidates can always be thrown off by something their opponent says, he thinks, and the result can be dead silence, or a brilliant comeback. Good luck practicing that.
You can watch the U.S. presidential debate live on Globalnews.ca starting at 9 p.m. Eastern time.
Comments