Due to Clintons baggage and health problems Trump appears poised to prevail in their first head-to-head debate.
The first presidential debate between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton kicks off Monday evening at 9 p.m. EST. It will last 90 minutes and take place at Hofstra University on Long Island. Over 100 million are expected to watch close to Super Bowl level of viewership. This would make it the most-watched presidential debate in history topping the 80 million who watched the lone presidential debate between Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter in 1980.
Lester Holt host of NBCs Nightly News is the moderator. According to New York voter registration records he has been a Republican since 2003. He is also a Christian but says as a journalist " I jealously guard my personal opinion." The topics are Americas Direction" Achieving Prosperity" and Securing America." Holt will select the questions. It is a traditional debate format with six 15-minute time segments and each of the topics will take up two of the six time slots.
None of the third party candidates achieved the 15 percent required in polls in order to participate. There are six weeks left until the election and early ballots are already being mailed out in parts of the country.
Presidential debates tend to be more about who can deliver the best zingers since by this stage the candidates have made their positions widely known. But the slug fests still influence voters. You cant really win an election in a debate but you can lose one" Brett ODonnell a communications consultant with long experience coaching GOP presidential candidates told The Washington Post.
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Rachel will be live tweeting and Facebooking the debate tonight at facebook.com/rachelalexander.politicalcolumnist and twitter.com/rach_ic.
