The Clinton-Trump town hall debate: here’s what you need to know
The second matchup of the two presidential candidates will be a town hall-style debate, where they’ll field questions from moderators and from audience members. Here’s what you need to know:
When is it?
It starts at 6 p.m. Pacific time and runs 90 minutes. It’s being held at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.
What channel is it on?
It’ll air live on ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX and C-SPAN, as well as all the cable news channels.
Who’s moderating?
Martha Raddatz, co-anchor of ABC’s “This Week,” and Anderson Cooper, anchor at CNN. Raddatz, by the way, was born in Idaho Falls.
What are the topics?
Unlike the first debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, the topics aren’t pre-set. Raddatz and Cooper will ask half the questions, and audience members will ask half.
Raddatz and Cooper have agreed to consider asking questions that garnered the most votes online at PresidentialOpenQuestions.com, which claims to be “the first attempt in U.S. history to empower regular citizens to join the dialogue as equals.”
Late last week, the questions getting the most votes included:
- “Would you support requiring criminal background checks for all gun sales?”
- “Do you support expanding, and not cutting, Social Security’s modest benefits?”
- “How will you ensure the 2nd amendment is protected?”
Who are the audience members?
They’re uncommitted voters who were chosen by the Gallup Organization.
What are the benefits of the town hall setup?
Town halls “test two things at once: the depth of your substantive knowledge and also your capacity for empathy. They test your head and your heart,” said Paul Begala, who advised Bill Clinton’s first presidential campaign. Nominees will be judged on how they relate to the audience members.
What are the pitfalls?
Stagecraft, body language and empathy matter more in a town hall debate than they do in conventional settings, where the candidates tend to stand at lecterns and spar.
What’s Donald Trump have to do?
Refuse to be baited. After he was bested by Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the first debate, Trump said, “I may hit her harder” in the second one. But settling scores may be exactly the wrong approach in a town-hall debate, where the candidates will be responding to the specific concerns of individual Americans, and where voters will be studying the candidates for their ability to relate to those concerns.
What’s Hillary Clinton have to do?
Not go into lawyer mode. Lanhee Chen, who was an adviser to GOP nominee Mitt Romney in 2012, said: “Being able to demonstrate an understanding of the person’s question in a non-sterile way is important. When you’re responding to a moderator, you can do it in a clinical way. Connecting is really important in a town-hall format.”
Memorable debate gaffe
In the first town hall-style debate, President George H.W. Bush checked his watch just as an audience member stood up to ask about how the national debt had personally affected him. It provided Bill Clinton and opening. Bush later said in the moment he was thinking: “I hate these debates. I’m so glad it’s almost over.”
Sources: The Washington Post, Associated Press and CNN