WASHINGTON — President George H.W. Bush conspicuously checked his watch. Al Gore got too close for comfort. Mitt Romney strode across stage to confront President Barack Obama face to face. ADVERTISING WASHINGTON — President George H.W. Bush conspicuously checked his
WASHINGTON — President George H.W. Bush conspicuously checked his watch. Al Gore got too close for comfort. Mitt Romney strode across stage to confront President Barack Obama face to face.
For presidential candidates, a town hall debate is a test of stagecraft as much as substance. When Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump meet Sunday night in St. Louis, they’ll be fielding questions from undecided voters seated nearby. In an added dose of unpredictability, the format allows the candidates to move around the stage, putting them in unusually close proximity.
“There’s a lot more interaction, physical interaction,” says Judd Gregg, the former New Hampshire senator who helped President George W. Bush prepare for debates. He said a candidate who is too aggressive in a town hall, either with the voters or a rival, “can come across looking really chippy, not looking presidential.”
After an uneven showing in his first debate, Trump’s candidacy may rise or fall on his ability to avoid falling into that trap. The Republican repeatedly interrupted Clinton in their opening contest and grew defensive as she challenged his business record and recited his demeaning comments about women.
The GOP nominee has reviewed video of this year’s first presidential debate, and his aides have stressed a need to stay calm and not let Clinton attacks get under his skin in the second of three contests. The campaign has built in more rehearsal time ahead of Sunday’s showdown in St. Louis.
Trump, who prefers drawing big crowds to rallies, has done only sporadic town halls and has rarely been challenged by voters face to face, except when his rallies are interrupted by protesters. In a nod to the challenge posed by Sunday’s format, he agreed to advisers’ suggestion that he get in some practice at a real town hall Thursday night in New Hampshire — but then publicly pushed back on the idea that he needed to rehearse.
“This isn’t practice, this has nothing to do with Sunday — this isn’t practice, we just wanted to be here,” Trump told a small, invitation-only crowd in Sandown. He was joined by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who excelled at the town hall format during his failed presidential run and is helping coach Trump.
