THE DEBATE

++Remember it is the visual presentation that counts. The Donald will be tall,Hillary short. People will snipe about what she wears and notice if he has a 1990s Red Power tie. 

++The good news is that there are prohibitions against applause,cheering and booing during the debate, which Trump plays off of.

++Josh Marshall commented today that we should not expect Trump to come across as unhinged. Josh writes that he didn't drug the Republican debates and that his off-the-wall statements are on the campaign trail. He also doesn't think Trump can go for a knock out punch because he has to pretend he is presidential.

++Hillary is substantial on policy but given to going into the weeds. She has to be short and sweet. Obama handled this by telling viewers go to his policy handbook for the details. Hillary can do the same and say everything is paid for. Obama made sure middle-class Americans knew they would not be paying more taxes, the wealthier would. This effectively neutralized the Democrats are Tax and Spend liberals. Hillary actually needs to weave this into her speaking,

++I think she needs to be aggressive in the first debate. This will have the highest ratings and in effect be the debate that moves the dial on the polls. The rest are a wash. Remember she is the underdog in the debate because she's female and ostensibly the "incumbent". 

++She needs to "attack Trump's manliness". The idea is that Trump has support because of his male authoritarianism. In part that is the contrast with Obama's sophisticated rhetoric and political chess making. 

++Hillary has to be snappy, make Trump hesitate, make him look indecisive. She can take in-coming because she has the advantage of being a woman and it makes him look like the bully he is. Be assured his handlers have cautioned him against playing the Alpha Male against Hillary. He may not be able to help himself.

++Hillary knows how to play head games. Her invitation to Mark Cuban triggered the Gennifer Flowers debate. The Donald was awkward with the only woman on the GOP stage. Expect that to appear in the debate despite all the advice.

++Hillary has to have a pithy answer to questions on the Clinton Foundation and the damn emails. To get bogged down is to lose. 

++Josh Marshall remarked that this debate is one-on-one which Trump has never done and Hillary is an old pro at it. The trouble with this format is that it expects answers to a host of questions and not some soundbite, which favors Trump. It also allows follow-up by the moderator who contrary to Trump's assertions is a registered Republican of the Negro persuasion. which may make him uncomfortable. 

++Marshall reproduced Trump's lengthy answer to a question on ISIS at the Commander in Chief Summit.  As Josh pointed out he didn't know what he is taking about and,in those cases, he bullshits an answer. Hillary has to call him out on this but not make it a lengthy response.

++Marshall feels that Hillary does no good by bringing up Trump's birtherism or even his bigotry. If she is challenged by her remarks about Trump supporters, she can then answer about the alt.right, David Duke,and Trump's flirtation with these groups.

++The real pressure is on Hillary because any misstatement by her will eat a week's media time while the same by Trump will just be excused as that's Trump. She has to make Trump unacceptable as President. She can deliver her steady, consistent performance but she needs some memorable lines.

++I don't think she should go to her strength on foreign policy because Trump can point to mayhem and murder abroad as some American failure. She has to be precise in how she defends her stay as Secretary of State.

++If Trump raises the immunity for her aides on the email scandal, she shouldn't go lawyer on us. She should past him with his myriad of legal problem right now. Bribing the Florida Attorney General, Trump University,the Trump Foundation and the two sex cases. "Don't lecture me on corruption, you wrote the book."

++A Bad debate--like Obama's first with Romney--cost Obama immediately 2 points and then it faded. That's why I said she should be 4 points in the lead to neutralize a bad debate.  By the way, I thought Obama didn't do badly in the debate but it is received wisdom. 

++But there, remember we had already elected him and observed him as President for four years. This would be the first debate for Hillary and we don't have that as a background to judge so a bad performance may have a deeper effect.