# Help Hillary by giving her a great debate zinger **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 20, 2016, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-hillary-by-giving-her-a-great-debate-zinger/766444 "2016-09-20T14:50:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-hillary-by-giving-her-a-great-debate-zinger/766444/61 "2016-09-21T01:58:10Z")
Another thing: Where are we able to post questions given to the candidates for first debate? I’d like to ask Mango Man why he suddenly wants to work for me instead of himself. Also, why didn’t you just buy index funds instead of pretending to know something about real estate. And maybe, how does a bill become a law, or, name four past presidents. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-hillary-by-giving-her-a-great-debate-zinger/766444/62 "2016-09-21T02:32:18Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > Relax. I’ve bookmarked plenty of Trumpy Wumpy support from certain posters this year. Pit thread will be posted November 3rd. 😜 Well, get comfortable, then. They probably won’t have definitive results of the election until November 9th. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-hillary-by-giving-her-a-great-debate-zinger/766444/63 "2016-09-21T02:56:00Z")
Hell, name four BEATLES. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-hillary-by-giving-her-a-great-debate-zinger/766444/64 "2016-09-21T03:02:21Z")
Hillary should have a list of issues and topics for voters to Google – make it interactive for viewers. Google Trump foundation. Google Trump discrimination lawsuit. Then start needling the shit out of him about his tax returns and Russia. “A lot of people are saying you owe debts to Putin.” “A lot of smart people are saying it.” ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-hillary-by-giving-her-a-great-debate-zinger/766444/65 "2016-09-21T04:14:56Z")
I agree with others who have said Hillary shouldn’t try for comical zingers. It’s just not her style. But she’s not entirely clumsy with a line. Remember books that always end at Chapter 11. She’s more playful when she’s relaxed and comfortable than most realize. The concern I have is whether or not she’ll be relaxed and comfortable. Despite having 40 public debates under her belt, I also remember Obama’s “bad night” debate performance in 2012. I can see this being a potential for Hillary, too, simply because she well knows how much is riding on her performance. She is the one who has much to lose. That said, I don’t get those who think Trump’s performance is going to be anything but cringeworthy. I’ve watched him a lot at his rallies, and he’s a terrible public speaker. He tests his crowd, and when he gets a line off that brings applause and cheers, he just repeats it over and over again. Rambles all over the place. Starts with his usual recitation of how great he is and how great the campaign is going, the moves on to his schtick of attack, attack, attack. He is ignorant, coarse and the very epitome of class – of the low and third variety. With no audible feedback from the audience, I think he will be lost. He won’t know which lines are “working” and which aren’t. He can’t recall important facts or figures without aid of a teleprompter, and barely with that. The only advantage he enjoys is that of low expectations. I like **ElvisL1ves** ’ line about rebuilding America like he rebuilt Atlantic City. Wish I’d thought of that one. Maybe something like, “Those with long records of public service are always easier to criticize than those who have done nothing in life except benefit themselves.” ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-hillary-by-giving-her-a-great-debate-zinger/766444/66 "2016-09-21T04:34:56Z")
It’s beginning to look like one of the best ways you guys could help Hillary with the debates would be to just get her there in the first place. I just got online [and saw this on Drudge](http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-09-20/trump-regaining-north-carolina-lead-hillary-unexpectedly-postpones-local-fundraiser-) so it might be three or four days old by now [snerk], but apparently Hillary no-showed without explanation on an important fund-raiser in North Carolina on Tuesday. A lot of people on this board seem to feel that by posting critical comments about Clinton, I’m somehow supporting Trump. But this isn’t the case. I’m still as opposed to Trump’s candidacy as I was when I first said I’d decided not to vote for him. But I also detest the idea of Hillary Clinton as president, and now in addition to her numerous personality and character flaws it’s becoming increasingly apparent that she just isn’t up to the job physically, and the idea of her keeling over during the debates is beginning to not sound so far fetched after all. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-hillary-by-giving-her-a-great-debate-zinger/766444/67 "2016-09-21T04:41:22Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > You guys might find it comforting to think some clever line is gonna devastate The Donald and help Hillary, but Trump is absolutely going to wipe the floor with her. He’s gonna bring up lie after lie after lie. He’s gonna bring up Bill’s endless stream of girlfriends and assault victims and Hillary’s participation in or going along with the portrayal of them as bimbos, and then lambaste her for having the audacity to call herself the woman’s candidate. He’s gonna bring up her health and long history of blood clots and fainting and concussions and special eyeglasses and how much she’s aged just since she ran against Obama eight years ago. He’ll probably also bring up allegations of her saying some form of “Fuck you or Fuck off” to her protectors in the Secret Service and Arkansas Highway Patrol and heighten her image as an ill-tempered, unlikeable bitch on wheels. Plus lots of other stuff I have no idea of. > > Hillary Clinton very likely has nightmares about these debates. And she should. You seem to be under the impression that this is a Trump rally, not a moderated debate where he will quickly get called on this kind of shit and shut down. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-hillary-by-giving-her-a-great-debate-zinger/766444/68 "2016-09-21T04:59:32Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > You seem to be under the impression that this is a Trump rally, not a moderated debate where he will quickly get called on this kind of shit and shut down. From your Lips to the Ears, but…by who? If Trump Gish Gallops a string of openly refuted lies, the moderator will make him stop? And if Trump says “No”, then what? The liberal media won’t let him debate and tell it like it is? So he had no choice but to walk off! Think that would be a hard sell with his base? And if the moderator outfoxes him by _not_ objecting, not giving him a chance to play his martyr card? Just let him say whatever he pleases, whenever he pleases and for as long as he likes? That might work, sorta kinda, let him do whatever he wants, and he probably will. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-hillary-by-giving-her-a-great-debate-zinger/766444/69 "2016-09-21T08:56:11Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > It’s beginning to look like one of the best ways you guys could help Hillary with the debates would be to just get her there in the first place. > > I just got online [and saw this on Drudge](http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-09-20/trump-regaining-north-carolina-lead-hillary-unexpectedly-postpones-local-fundraiser-) so it might be three or four days old by now [snerk], but apparently Hillary no-showed without explanation on an important fund-raiser in North Carolina on Tuesday. > > A lot of people on this board seem to feel that by posting critical comments about Clinton, I’m somehow supporting Trump. But this isn’t the case. I’m still as opposed to Trump’s candidacy as I was when I first said I’d decided not to vote for him. But I also detest the idea of Hillary Clinton as president, and now in addition to her numerous personality and character flaws it’s becoming increasingly apparent that she just isn’t up to the job physically, and the idea of her keeling over during the debates is beginning to not sound so far fetched after all. You keep pumping her up. No, she’s not human. No, she’s not capable of walking or talking because she’s got the strength of a baby. I don’t know why you keep pretending that there’s a chance that she’s not clinically dead right now, when there’s a mountain of evidence that she’s been dead for months and been operating Weekend at Bernie’s style by her staff. Obviously postponing one fundraiser should be proof that she no longer exists on planet earth, but you act like there’s a chance she’s not a pile of ash and bone shards, and you should really stop pumping her up so much. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-hillary-by-giving-her-a-great-debate-zinger/766444/70 "2016-09-21T10:54:33Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > It’s beginning to look like one of the best ways you guys could help Hillary with the debates would be to just get her there in the first place. > > I just got online [and saw this on Drudge](http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-09-20/trump-regaining-north-carolina-lead-hillary-unexpectedly-postpones-local-fundraiser-) so it might be three or four days old by now [snerk], but apparently Hillary no-showed without explanation on an important fund-raiser in North Carolina on Tuesday. If that means she’s sick, [Trump must be three times as sick](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/08/22/trump-cancels-nevada-colorado-oregon/89122820/). ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-hillary-by-giving-her-a-great-debate-zinger/766444/71 "2016-09-21T11:20:08Z")
> [@Pearl\_Clutching\_Provocateur](#): > > “Mr. Trump, President George HW Bush , intends to vote for me. This proves your own party doesn’t believe in your candidacy.” > > “Well, Bill Clinton always chooses someone other than you.” Yeah, Trump’s really playing to his strengths by playing the “marital infidelity” card. That’s bound to work out well for him. > [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Mr Trump, how will your overseas investments affect your foreign policy decisions? More to the point, how will his _debts to overseas investors_ affect his foreign policy decisions? And I also vote for Clinton to avoid prepared zingers - she doesn’t do them well. Better to hammer her experience and competence and his lack thereof, and let the pundits do the zinging. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-hillary-by-giving-her-a-great-debate-zinger/766444/72 "2016-09-21T11:45:25Z")
Considering the incredibly dumb “Our African-American communities are absolutely in the worst shape that they’ve ever been in before. Ever, ever, ever” Trump said yesterday, I see another possibility for Hillary. Something like this: “The other day Donald said, and I quote, ‘Our African-American communities are absolutely in the worst shape that they’ve ever been in before. Ever, ever, ever’. I want to give Donald the benefit of the doubt – I assume that you know, Donald, that our African American communities were in infinitely worse shape under the daily rapes, brutalization, and dehumanization of slavery, and in the segregation and terrorist violence of Jim Crow, than any problems we’re facing now. I assume you know this and you just made a mistake. So I’d like to cede the rest of my time to Donald to give him the chance to apologize and clarify that he really does understand American history, and the terrible history of slavery and Jim Crow.” This could also be used for birtherism, attacks on the gold star Khan family, and much more. But Trump will never apologize, and he’d see any wavering as a threat to his domination, so I think it’s likely he’d double down and say something even dumber. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-hillary-by-giving-her-a-great-debate-zinger/766444/73 "2016-09-21T12:35:38Z")
I don’t think ceding time to Trump is a winning strategy. People turned off by Trump saying dumb things about nonwhite people are already not going to vote for him, I think. Clinton needs her time. She needs to show what she’s excellent at: she’s super-knowledgeable, and even though she sometimes makes crappy policy decisions (from my pinko perspective), she always makes well-considered, defensible policy decisions. The contrast she wants to draw is this: we’re going to have some stormy waters. Do you want to weather them in a ship commanded by a veteran captain, or a jetski piloted by a drunken egomaniac? She’ll do this not with zingers but with knowledge and sobriety. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-hillary-by-giving-her-a-great-debate-zinger/766444/74 "2016-09-21T12:46:02Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I don’t think ceding time to Trump is a winning strategy. People turned off by Trump saying dumb things about nonwhite people are already not going to vote for him, I think. > > Clinton needs her time. She needs to show what she’s excellent at: she’s super-knowledgeable, and even though she sometimes makes crappy policy decisions (from my pinko perspective), she always makes well-considered, defensible policy decisions. > > The contrast she wants to draw is this: we’re going to have some stormy waters. Do you want to weather them in a ship commanded by a veteran captain, or a jetski piloted by a drunken egomaniac? > > She’ll do this not with zingers but with knowledge and sobriety. I’ll add to what I said – she starts with policy (and this would work best for her opening statement). A reasonably detailed policy statement, tailored to fit into the time (since they’ll know in advance how much time for the opening statement), and then something like the statement I suggest, and then she leaves just 30 seconds or so to “cede”, which won’t make much a difference other than as a symbolic/theatrical gesture. Just a possibility. I don’t think just talking policy is enough. I don’t think ‘zingers’ will work, but setting up Trump to walk into trouble is appropriate and even necessary, I think. If she just has a bit of the appearance that she is beating Trump on the theatrics, and looking smarter than he is, then he’ll blow up, since he can’t control himself. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-hillary-by-giving-her-a-great-debate-zinger/766444/75 "2016-09-21T12:50:57Z")
Sure, setting him up for trouble is fine. I don’t think she needs to cede time for it. She can end a statement about, say, criminal justice by saying, “As a nation, we have made tremendous progress toward our ideals of equality and justice for all. My opponent disagrees, and believes that today’s African American communities are worse off than they were under Jim Crow. Unlike my opponent, I believe we are closer than we have ever been to achieving these ideals. There is still work to be done, goals we will accomplish together. We must not let ourselves be divided by fear and mistrust.” SO yeah, hold him accountable for his words. But make him spend his own damn time rebutting himself. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-hillary-by-giving-her-a-great-debate-zinger/766444/76 "2016-09-21T12:55:12Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Sure, setting him up for trouble is fine. I don’t think she needs to cede time for it. She can end a statement about, say, criminal justice by saying, “As a nation, we have made tremendous progress toward our ideals of equality and justice for all. My opponent disagrees, and believes that today’s African American communities are worse off than they were under Jim Crow. Unlike my opponent, I believe we are closer than we have ever been to achieving these ideals. There is still work to be done, goals we will accomplish together. We must not let ourselves be divided by fear and mistrust.” > > SO yeah, hold him accountable for his words. But make him spend his own damn time rebutting himself. Okay, I get this approach, but I think she should be more forceful if she utilizes it – something like “my opponent believes that African Americans are worse off now than ever before – even worse than during the daily rapes and brutalizations of slavery, or the segregation and terrorist violence under Jim Crow. I, and the African Americans I’ve spoken to, disagree. There are many difficulties but we have made much progress, including over the last 8 years. Since 2009, the uninsured rate for African Americans has been reduced from X to Y%; income has risen by Z$; [etc.]”. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-hillary-by-giving-her-a-great-debate-zinger/766444/77 "2016-09-21T12:56:08Z")
I recommend the simple and direct response from HRC, to every utterance that comes out of Donald’s mouth during the debate: “Shut your mouth you orange buffoon and let the grown-ups handle this.” Rinse. Repeat. ‘Debating’ Trump is akin to wrestling with a pig in the mud. The pig likes it. ---
**Author:** ![DonLogan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@DonLogan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DonLogan)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-hillary-by-giving-her-a-great-debate-zinger/766444/78 "2016-09-21T12:56:44Z")
Only thing I think she needs to avoid is if at some point Trump makes some benign attempt at jocularity, she should just smile it off, but resist the urge to come back with some sort of pistol-whipping. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-hillary-by-giving-her-a-great-debate-zinger/766444/79 "2016-09-21T14:11:25Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > You guys might find it comforting to think some clever line is gonna devastate The Donald and help Hillary, but Trump is absolutely going to wipe the floor with her. Yes, Trump will absolutely wipe the floor with Hillary Clinton in the opinion of all of his rabid fans. He will wipe the floor with her in the opinion of those who don’t care whether they hear a single substantive idea, workable policy or coherent thought, as long as they get to hear the guy from _The Apprentice_ throw schoolyard insults at the boring old lady who talks too much. And, it goes without saying, he will wipe the floor with her in his own mind. The rest of us will be curious to watch, listen and assess what actually transpires. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-hillary-by-giving-her-a-great-debate-zinger/766444/80 "2016-09-21T15:23:25Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Cheap zingers isn’t her style and won’t work. > > Needling him and raising his weak points, that’s potentially effective. “Donald, why won’t you release your tax returns? What are you hiding?” is not technically a “zinger” but it hurts. He has no really good way of responding. Sure he does: he can toss her a USB stick or CD with them on it. “There you go. Of course, they’re encrypted; I know the worth of computer security.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-hillary-by-giving-her-a-great-debate-zinger/766444.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-hillary-by-giving-her-a-great-debate-zinger/766444.md?page=5)