Trump Advisers Reportedly Wringing Hands Over His Debate Performance

[DonViejo]

While Donald Trump’s advisers have publicly praised his performance in the first presidential debate, The New York Times reported Wednesday that they have privately lamented the real estate mogul’s missed opportunities to attack Hillary Clinton and palpable loss of steam as the 90-minute event wore on.

Seven campaign aides and advisors who spoke to the Times on condition of anonymity attributed the subpar performance to Trump’s lack of focus in prep meetings, unwillingness to practice using a podium or doing mock debates, and reliance on advisers like retired Army general Michael Flynn, who has no experience with presidential debates.

While Trump has touted his victory in a spate of unscientific online polls, both conservative and liberal political analysts have said Trump’s lack of preparation was readily apparent during Monday’s face-off, allowing Clinton to steer the conversation and get under his skin. Despite engaging in an extended back-and-forth with moderator Lester Holt in which he falsely insisted he never supported the Iraq War, randomly insulting comedian Rosie O’Donnell, and bragging about the fact that he didn’t pay taxes, Trump left the debate confident, telling reporters the questions were “very fair.”

By the next morning, Trump was lashing out at the “unfair” questions posed by Holt and biased media coverage of the debate, introducing complaints about a faulty microphone to help explain his performance.

-snip-

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/new-york-times-advisers-lament-trump-debate-performance

[saltpoint]

1. The main difficulty the Trump team faces

is that they are part of a campaign that is driven by greed, anger, lies, and overt bigotry.

That's not much to work with, especially when the candidate himself embodies these traits and sees no call for correction.

If their candidate behaves like an unhinged jackass, voters have full right to consider him one.

[magicnpoetry]

2. His Superpower is

that he can unravel faster and more complete than anybody ever. For about 10 minutes it looked like his handlers had him adopting a game plan. But true to his superpower, he couldn't hold it together.

[tonyt53]

3. Trump cannot be more prepared. His mind does not work that way.

All he has ever done is bully others. In his mind, he will always be right in both what he says and what he does. No matter how much he tries to prepare for the next debate (if there is one), Hillary will incite him to another fit of rage.