2016 Inside Hillary Clinton’s debate prep
The Democrat holds more moot court than mock debate as she prepares to show her opponent as unbalanced and ill prepared.
Clinton, for all her knowledge, polling and top-tier coaching, has always been defined not by what she’s said on the debate stage but by how she’s dealt with what her opponents have said about her.
.. Another added that her preparation this year “is more style than substance. They’re trying to prepare her for the different Trumps that might show up.”
.. when you count her own three dozen on-stage debates there is arguably no one in American politics with more prime-time experience
.. When D.C. attorney Bob Barnett, who was playing Sanders, began peppering her with attacks in a drab hotel conference room, a clearly agitated Clinton shut the session down and declared, “How about I play Bernie?”
Over the next hour or so, Clinton – to the surprise of her staff – staged a credible and unvarnished version of Sanders’ attacks on her economic plans and close ties to Wall Street, according to two people with knowledge of the exchange.
.. “If Trump can be positioned to bully her, that will probably be his biggest failing,” said another longtime Clinton insider. “And her pushing him back politely, so there’s a difference between his level and her level, that will be her biggest strength.”