Trump’s unconventional debate prep skips mock debates
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Trump’s unconventional debate prep skips mock debates
BY Jill Colvin and Jonathan Lemire, Associated Press September 24, 2016 at 12:54 PM EDT
NEW YORK — Since he entered the presidential race, it’s been Donald Trump’s style to break with convention. It’s no different when it comes to debate prep.
The New York billionaire has skipped practicing a full debate as he gets ready for his first on-stage meeting with Hillary Clinton. While he has studied policy ideas and practiced answering questions he may face Monday night, experts who have been through the process call his decision to skip time-intensive mock debates a mistake.
“I think he’s putting himself at an incredible disadvantage,” said Brett O’Donnell, a Republican strategist and veteran debate coach who compared Trump’s decision to a football team failing to scrimmage.
Trump’s Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, has run through full-length mock debates against a stand-in for Trump during her preparation sessions. For good reason, O’Donnell said. Gaming out every potential permutation of what might happen in the 90-minute showdown helps a candidate calculate how to respond.
“If you simulate what could happen in the debates, then you understand how to handle those moments when they actually do happen,” he said.
READ MORE: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/trump-...
Trump’s unconventional debate prep skips mock debates
BY Jill Colvin and Jonathan Lemire, Associated Press September 24, 2016 at 12:54 PM EDT
NEW YORK — Since he entered the presidential race, it’s been Donald Trump’s style to break with convention. It’s no different when it comes to debate prep.
The New York billionaire has skipped practicing a full debate as he gets ready for his first on-stage meeting with Hillary Clinton. While he has studied policy ideas and practiced answering questions he may face Monday night, experts who have been through the process call his decision to skip time-intensive mock debates a mistake.
“I think he’s putting himself at an incredible disadvantage,” said Brett O’Donnell, a Republican strategist and veteran debate coach who compared Trump’s decision to a football team failing to scrimmage.
Trump’s Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, has run through full-length mock debates against a stand-in for Trump during her preparation sessions. For good reason, O’Donnell said. Gaming out every potential permutation of what might happen in the 90-minute showdown helps a candidate calculate how to respond.
“If you simulate what could happen in the debates, then you understand how to handle those moments when they actually do happen,” he said.
READ MORE: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/trump-...
