***Join the SDMB panel of experts for live debate coverage - 9/26/2016***

Just setting up the furniture and getting ready for tonight. Hopefully we’ll all tune in and share our POVs. Hence the early notice. Alcohol optional but suggested.

9 PM Eastern.

Do not adjust your TV, he really is orange.

My seat should be right about here…ah! The Siege Perilous! Just so, very thoughtful.

I’m bringing hot wings!

I expect to finish the entire fifth of Johnnie Walker black. I’m not sure they deserve the green.

My prediction : a moderate win for Hillary. She will be steady and competent without delivering a knockout punch.

I think Trump will have his moments but he has three distinct vulnerabilities and he may work around one or even two but not all three. The first two weaknesses have been discussed in detail: a) he is thin-skinned and easy to provoke and b) he is deeply ignorant about the underlying issues

The third issue has been less discussed; his lack of mental stamina and attention span which will be difficult to hide in a one-on-one debate, a format in which he has no public experience. I wouldn’t be surprised if he completely loses focus in the last 15 minutes and rambles incoherently even by his standards.

Well, this ex-pat is about to hop into bed to catch a few hours of sleep before getting up to watch the debate. Usually, I would watch it the next day or look to see what the consensus of various news outlets was, but not this one – this feels historic. I’m looking forward to cheering Hillary Clinton on. Lord, I wonder which Donald Trump is going to show up in a few hours – subdued and almost normal, or brash and spontaneous, with a side of shamelessness and bluster?

Looking forward to participating and watching.

My prediction: Rationally, Trump should just come in and be relatively steady and moderate. But he is incapable of doing that. So I suspect we’ll see a Trump who is trying to be steady and strong and sticking it to the “establishment,” but who has a handful of screw-ups that we’ll debate until the next debate. For example, he’ll probably say something stupid about birtherism, and we’ll be debating whether it hurts him or whether he’s capturing the working class gestalt. By contrast, I expect Hillary to be normal Hillary, with maybe a little more attempt to make an emotional connection. At worst, she will overreach on an attack or two. I expect her to raise his failure to turn over his taxes, and I worry she might overplay that. I don’t think she’ll bungle her defense of whatever Trump throws–she’ll have good answers on Benghazi and emails.

I don’t think this will be a clear win for either of them, and I don’t think the media will report it as a clear win. Likeliest outcome is that it is considered a draw.

Know hope. :wink:

Do you get ESPN?

Prediction is that Clinton wipes the floor with Trump yet he will be too clueless/delusional to notice.

My prediction is that there is no path to victory for Clinton in this debate.

It’s a completely unlevel playing field here and Trump practically cannot lose unless he actually loses his mind, which is unlikely.

Trump will either bury her in bullshit and bluster, making himself look strong and decisive, or he will be relatively restrained, making himself look reasonable and presidential.

Clinton has the choice of looking weak or looking like a cold bitch. The best hope that she (which means all of us) has is to not lose ground.

Trumps gaffes will be noted then ignored while far more minor gaffes from Clinton will be judged to be deal-breakers.

Basically, just like the rest of the election coverage to this point, I’m not sure why anybody would expect any different.

They pretty much have to “grade on the curve” to foster the illusion of non-partisan objectivity. They have to pretend that both candidates are offering reasonable and intelligible points. Points like “The best way to get people to stop hating us is to bomb their kids”.

I think I’ve still got enough calvados left to get through at least the first half hour.

Is Shitbag Jill Stein planning on trespassing and getting arrested by trying to enter the debate? That’s been a Green Party M.O. the past few elections.

Two predictions: The Monday Night Football game (Falcons/Saints) will be one of the lowest rated game in a long time. And the debate will probably be a letdown, because when you think something is going to be exciting, its usually a bust.

If Trump starts attacking Hillary then he had better score. Trump talks about being the counter-puncher but Hillary could win either by counter-punching or perhaps even by just maintaining grace under pressure. If she can find it in her to smirk a little as he starts delivering his one-liners then I think she scores points. The more Trump throws and fails to land, the more he loses. I don’t know if Hillary needs to win with zingers. But at some point, on certain issues, I think people need to see a little passion. Just something like a well-timed “Mr Trump you’ve definitely had success and nobody can take that away from you, but you should be horribly ashamed of your campaign’s tactics. You’re better than that. And this country needs more leadership, not divisiveness.” If she can deliver that combination of withstanding his barrage of insults, I think she scores some and if she can also convince voters that she has principles and values, then I think she knocks it out of the park.

The more dangerous Trump for Clinton would be a Trump we haven’t seen much of, which is a somewhat toned down but focused and aggressive Trump. There were moments in some of the debates when Trump delivered some messages that almost sounded presidential. Moments like his response to Ted Cruz’s New York values comment. There were others here and there. But I do agree with some of his skeptics: Trump has yet to show that he can sustain a disciplined 90-minute debate performance. I also wonder if Donald Trump really knows how to prepare for this sort of event. What worked in the primaries may not sell to this larger more diverse audience.

Ha! I’m already halfway through my first (somewhat diluted) glass of Pernod.

If it’s boring, Trump loses. People are setting aside 90 minutes of their lives that they’ll never get back precisely to watch him say something outrageous.

Pace yourself, eh?

JUST ANNOUNCED

The networks and news channels have all agreed to have the debates put on pay-per-view. They will split the PPV proceeds. Candidates will be judged on creativity for their entrance music and rap battle flow.