The face-off Monday night between Hillary
Clinton and Donald J. Trump is, for good
reason, among the most highly anticipated
presidential debates in American history,
with new polls showing the contest
essentially tied.
The spectacle of it alone is alluring: one of
the world’s most famous women onstage
for 90 commercial-free minutes alongside
one of the country’s most recognizable
men, in the ultimate convergence of
celebrity and politics.
But with a presidential race that once
seemed to be tipping in Mrs. Clinton’s
favor growing more competitive as early
voting begins, the debate at Hofstra
University in New York is far more than a
made-for-TV moment.
National polls and swing state
surveys could hardly be tighter
heading into the first presidential
debate.
Quinnipiac University declared the race
“too close to call” on Monday, as its latest
national poll of likely voters found Mrs.
Clinton edging Mr. Trump by a margin of
47 percent to 46 percent in a head-to-head
matchup.
A separate poll of likely voters from
Monmouth University showed Mrs. Clinton
holding a lead of four-percentage points in
a four-way contest, leading by a margin of
46 percent to 44 percent. A month ago,
Mrs. Clinton led by 7 points.
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Polls conducted CNN/ORC in Colorado and
Pennsylvania that included Gary Johnson
and Jill Stein, the Libertarian and Green
Party candidates, also offered little clarity.
Mr. Trump holds a one percentage point
advantage in Colorado, while Mrs. Clinton
leads by the same margin in Pennsylvania.
In both states, voters with college degrees
overwhelmingly support Mrs. Clinton.
Those with less education heavily favor
Mr. Trump.
Here is what else to look for as the
candidates try to motivate — or reassure —
supporters and win over a small group of
undecided voters.
Can Trump demonstrate he’s fit for
the Oval Office?
With a showman’s flair for generating
publicity and a firebrand’s talent for
touching the rawest of nerves, Mr. Trump
has effectively harnessed the angst of many
in the country who are not feeling the
effects of the economic upswing, have
tired of prolonged wars or have grievances
about a changing country.
But surveys show that a majority of
Americans still believe he is unqualified to
be president . If Mr. Trump is to convince
those voters who have doubts about his
fitness for high office, but are uneasy with
Mrs. Clinton, the three debates represent
his best opportunity to prove he can be
trusted to serve as a head of state. He has
to show discipline when it comes to how
he engages Mrs. Clinton, challenging her
without belittling her, and at least show
he is conversant on foreign and domestic
policy issues.
Just as Ronald Reagan did in 1980 and
George W. Bush did in 2000, Mr. Trump
faces a threshold test about whether he is
up to the job. But neither Mr. Reagan nor
Mr. Bush faced the same level of doubt as
Mr. Trump does today. The provocateur
must show he can be a president.
Can Clinton hide her contempt for
her opponent and her disbelief at
being locked in such a close race?
It is no stretch to believe that in her
internal monologue — and perhaps in
intimate conversations — Mrs. Clinton
wonders how she could possibly be locked
in a competitive contest with a casino
executive turned reality TV personality
who has never run for office and has no
foreign policy experience. But if Mrs.
Clinton betrays any such incredulity, she
risks bringing what she may think is the
unthinkable that much closer to reality.
Whether it is with her body language, her
tone or her words, Mrs. Clinton cannot
appear contemptuous of the voters for
considering the star of “The Apprentice”
for the office of Washington, Jefferson and
Lincoln. Just as Mr. Trump will
undermine his prospects if he hurls insults
at Mrs. Clinton, she must mask her
contempt for him and persuade, not scold,
voters. She needs only to ask Al Gore
about how effective eye-rolling and sighing
are when contending with an opponent
you can barely believe is on the same
stage.
Can Trump perform for an
extended period of time without a
net?
If Mrs. Clinton must guard against
condescension, Mr. Trump has to worry
about being exposed to a global audience
as devoid of all but bluster. During the
Republican primary race, he benefited
from sharing a stage with numerous
rivals, each of whom was eager for the
airtime during a season in which Mr.
Trump thoroughly dominated television
news. Since his campaign’s low point this
summer, when he was criticized for
frequently taking it off script, Mr. Trump
has put aside his mockery of politicians
who use teleprompters and he now reads
from prepared text at even some of his
most informal events.
But Mr. Trump now lacks safety in
numbers on the stage. And when he looks
into the camera Monday evening, there
will be no well-chosen words for him to
read. He must summon the stamina to
engage fully for 90 minutes and the
knowledge to answer to a battery of policy
questions from both the moderator,
Lester Holt of NBC, and Mrs. Clinton. A
long silence, a mistaken guess or an angry
dismissal all would serve to reinforce one
of his biggest vulnerabilities: that he
knows next to nothing about substance.
Can Clinton overcome the trust
issue with voters, especially those
who remain on the fence?
Mrs. Clinton has seen her advantage in the
race erode in part because she is having
difficulty locking in voters who should
otherwise be hers. Just take a look at how
many young voters are now indicating in
polls that they support one of the third-
party candidates or at the hostility the
remaining undecided voters have toward
Mr. Trump.
As Mrs. Clinton has conceded, she must
appeal to this portion of the electorate
with an affirmative case for herself — not
only slashing attacks on Mr. Trump. To
win them over, she will need a ready
answer when the inevitable question
comes about her use of a private email
server as secretary of state.
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This moment presents an opportunity for
her to not only address the narrow matter
of her emails, but to offer an
acknowledgment to on-the-fence voters
that she has heard their concerns about
her trustworthiness. She must show self-
awareness about the perceptions of her
character and the view that she
personifies the detested political class.
Mrs. Clinton may be uncomfortable
hanging a lantern on her problem, to
borrow a Robert Kennedy phrase, but it
would signal to reluctant, would-be
supporters that she has heard their
concerns.
How will the moderator perform
under close scrutiny?
The two candidates will not be the only
ones under the microscope at Hofstra: Mr.
Holt is likely to face the sort of scrutiny
rarely seen of debate moderators. With his
willingness to breezily tell untruths, Mr.
Trump presents a unique challenge to all
journalists covering the campaign. But
having to hold him accountable in real
time while millions across the world
watch is a burden of a different order of
magnitude.
Mr. Holt cannot waver when Mr. Trump
dissembles. But the NBC anchor also must
be careful to not become argumentative
and let Mr. Trump make him the story,
evading the substance at hand. At the same
time, Mr. Holt has to aggressively press
Mrs. Clinton and scrutinize her record and
past statements.
Finding this balance — holding a norm-
breaking politician to account while also
not seeming to go any easier on his
conventional opponent — would be
difficult under the best of circumstances.
But the pressure on Mr. Holt to control the
stage has been heightened by the much-
criticized performance from his NBC
colleague, Matt Lauer, at a televised
candidate forum this month. And there is
something else adding to the weight on Mr.
Holt: the presidency is on the line.
Working the referees
Donald J. Trump has been complaining
about the media for months and last week
suggested that Mr. Holt, the NBC anchor
who is moderating the debate, might be
biased against him because of his party
affiliation.
“And by the way, Lester is a Democrat,”
Mr. Trump told Bill O’Reilly of Fox News.
In fact, Mr. Holt is a Republican.
On Monday, Kellyanne Conway, Mr.
Trump’s campaign manager was pressed to
explain why Mr. Trump misinformed the
public about the newscaster’s party
affiliation during an interview with
MSNBC. After dodging and weaving, she
rejected the idea that Mr. Trump lied
about Mr. Holt.
“He didn’t lie,” Ms. Conway said, arguing
that Mr. Trump was unaware of Mr. Holt’s
political leanings. “A lie would mean that
he knew the man’s party registration.”
And here’s how to watch the
showdown
■ Start time: 9 p.m. Eastern
■ Duration: About 90 minutes
■ Airing on TV: On NBC, CBS, ABC, PBS,
CNN and Fox News.
■ Streaming online: Right here at
nytimes.com , as well as many other
websites.


The first us presidential debate between hillary clinton and donald trump is about to kick off so who are you rooting for? for me #TEAM CLINTON koz she is got experience.

Team Clinton; click Like..

Team Trump; Share

Epic battle. They put America n Americans 1st no matter the policy argument unlike d useless politicians in Nigeria

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are poised for a historic debate battle. They'll face off at 9p ET

Nigeria time plz

oshyno:
Nigeria time plz

2am on cnn

I can't miss this. Trump no F up o.
Calm down and watch your temperament.

Although i like trump but..

He hung himself yesterday and Hillary watched and laughed with the rest of the crowd. Good wholesome entertainment!

Hillary Clinton has arrived at the debate hall. The first presidential debate starts in 20 minutes. Watch on CNN.com .

Bernie Sanders on past debates: "You go online, we did much better because people listened to what I had to say"

#hillary #debatenight

Watching the ClintonVsTrump debate. Trying to keep an open mind for now.

Clinton: "Who can put into action the plans that will make your life better?"

@HillaryClinton : "I also want to see more
companies do profit-sharing."

Hillary Clinton: I call Donald Trump's tax
plan "Trumped-up trickle down"

@RealDonaldTrump at #Debates2016 : I
will reduce taxes from 35% to 15% for
companies

@HillaryClinton : "Trumped up trickle-
down" is not the way to grow the
economy

Clinton to Trump: "I think my husband
did a pretty good job in the 1990s"

Trump: "That's called business, by the
way"

Trump: "Hillary, I just ask you this: You've
been doing this for 30 years. Why are you
just thinking about the solutions

@HillaryClinton : "Donald, I know you live
in your own reality, but that is not the
facts."

"We have no leadership, and honestly that
starts with Secretary Clinton" - Donald
Trump

Clinton: "I have a feeling that by the end
of this evening I'm going to be blamed for
everything" Trump: "Why not?"

Trump on Clinton: "Typical politician: all
talk, no action. Sounds good, doesn't
work. Never gonna happen."

Donald Trump: I will release my taxes
when Clinton releases her deleted email

Clinton: I think implicit bias is problem
for everyone, not just police. Too many of
us jump to conclusions about each other.
#debatenight

Trump: “African Americans and Hispanics
are living in hell because it’s so
dangerous" #debatenight

Clinton says fixing race relations comes
down to 2 things: restoring trust between
police and communities of colour and
reforming gun laws.

Hillary Clinton: I'm "relieved that my late
father never did business with you"

#CNNRealityCheck : Trump said stop-and-
frisk wasn’t ruled unconstitutional. FALSE.
It was, by a federal judge in 2013

Clinton: "He started his political activity
based on this lie that our first black
president was not a US citizen."
#debatenight

Clinton: Trump "started his political
activity based on this racist lie"

"Donald says his plan to defeat ISIS is a
secret plan... well, the only secret is that
he has no plan" -Hillary Clinton
#debatenight

Donald Trump on not paying taxes: "That
makes me smart"

Trump on Clinton: She doesn't have the
look [to be president], the stamina - I
don't believe she has the stamina.

pls give trump another glass of water, he's dehydrating already #debatenight

#Debates2016 @realDonaldTrump needs to stop being rude and allow her to speak and @HillaryClinton needs to tell us her plan not her website

Watching this debate keenly. #IStandWithHillary

"We've become a third world country" - Presidential nominee on the country he's interviewing to be the leader of. Really?! #Debates2016

playboy99:
#Debates2016 @realDonaldTrump needs
to stop being rude and allow her to speak
and @HillaryClinton needs to tell us her
plan not her website

She is..she is.

"...I feel Donald Trump is criticizing me for preparing for this debate but you know what I also prepared for, I've prepared to be President" - Hillary Clinton

@HillaryClinton just called out @realDonaldTrump for having racist tendencies as far back as 1970's he agreed they settled the lawsuit.

He never had a clue. This joke should never have come this far. its belittling to Hillary that this is her opponent

Trump is hot this morning (Nigerian time), he is really firing from every burner. I love the part he said, "African-Americans and Hispanics are living in Hell. You go to Chicago, you may get shot. A stylish and smart way to win these minorities to his side. He just proved that he is a caring President. My favourite quote from Trump, "Secretary, you have no plan" that was harsh Trump

At least we can be clear on one thing, Trump did not deny that he is racist. He instead attempted to accuse Hillary of same.

Donald Trump just said he did black Americans a favor by questioning the legitimacy of the 1st black president. This happened. In real life

#CNNRealityCheck : Trump: I opposed Iraq War. FALSE. He didn’t express opposition until over a year after invasion

pyyxxaro:
If you de 9jaa and you de support Donald Trump

You are on ur own o

Cos if e Win, una nor go come yankee again o

Na for 3rd mainland bridge Rapture go meet unaa

Lies lies lies, blacks going to live in USA is beyond what Trump can block Trump's position is simple: "come into my Country on genuine business and legit way".

Trump: "that is a mainstream media nonsense put out by her...." Holt: "the record shows otherwise."

Ratello:

Lies lies lies, blacks going to live in USA is beyond what Trump can block Trump's position is simple: "come into my Country on genuine business and legit way".

Make una nor believe am o

This guy na World people o

E want make rapture meet una for Onitsha bridge

I can't believe the republicans put this guy in this Position! #Debates2016