I'm getting the feeling that Sunday is Trump's last chance.

[Yavin4]

Do extremely well, exceed expectations, and he wins back some Republicans and makes the race closer.

Do poorly like he did in the last debate, and the election is over. People will lock in their votes, and the election will be done.

[onecaliberal]

1. He is exactly what he is. We've all seen enough. He possess NO redeeming qualities.

[treestar]

2. The format will probably kill him

This is the one where they have to answer directly questions from voters and show some empathy with them. Don the Con just can't. Have we ever seen him be nice to anybody? If the question is at all a challenge, he may be in danger of blasting that voter verbally. The potential for disaster for him is really there.

[Chemisse]

12. He was coached by Chris Christie.

Remember when Christie lashed into one of the town hall attendees in New Hampshire? It doused what little hope he had.

[BobbyDrake]

24. Haha, right? Christie uses town halls to yell at his constituents!

We have the viral videos to prove it too.

[underpants]

26. Totally agree. He is also is losing the podium which he is comfortable with

The podium gives any speaker the air of authority and they speak down at the audience. He is going to have to work the room. Move and speak. AND there could be multiple camera angles not his usual straight forward look.

[Tarheel_Dem]

3. Be prepared for the M$M to declare him the winner, no matter how he performs, or how many....

lies he tells. They won't go along with anything that doesn't have the whiff of a horserace.

[tallahasseedem]

4. They did it for Pence.

But it will not work for Trump. He knows whats on the line and will fail.

[Tarheel_Dem]

6. It didn't really work for Pence either. Lowest viewership EVER for a VP debate. They tried to.....

help Pence, but they've already moved on past that lackluster debate in anticipation of Sunday night between the top 2. I fully expect the Donald to do somewhat better than his first performance, but the M$M will turn it into a miraculous reset of the Trump campaign. I hope I'm wrong, but they've been carrying water for Trump from the primaries till now.

[BobbyDrake]

25. Pence has been exposed as a liar every day since his debate.

The media's ability to cover for Trump is pretty much over at this point, and he's relied on the free ride too much to have any chance of finishing the race on his own merits. The skills he should have developed for this can't be picked up over a weekend.

[Avalux]

14. It will be impossible to declare Donald the winner if he performs as badly as the first debate.

No one could spin that and I don't expect he'll do any better. Probably worse. I read earlier that Mikey told Donald to just go out there and be himself. I think he wants him to lose.

[Tarheel_Dem]

17. If he's "himself", he's sunk. But like Hillary said, "I don't know which Trump will show up". n/t

[0rganism]

16. remember, the M$M is just as willing to cover a train wreck as a horse race

they can get decent ratings for either one, really

[Tarheel_Dem]

18. <<< Fingers Crossed >>>.

[TeamPooka]

38. great point.

[nixonwasbetterthanW]

5. He will bomb. He is incapable of going 7 minutes without the fragile ego starting to suppurate.

[MyNameIsKhan]

7. Whatever he does, he is not coming back after these many scandals.

[Vinca]

8. If only someone would ask about the rape lawsuit recently refiled . . .

[underpants]

27. The questions are screened and the audience reads them

Little chance of the audience going off script.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

9. Clinton and Trump will be there together, right?

Sorry for my ignorance, but it's not going to be like that Matt Lauer town hall, is it?

As long as they're together, giving Clinton a chance to counter his crap, I feel optimistic about it.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

13. Found the answer myself. I think Clinton will crush him!

With her there to intervene (since moderators often don't do it), she should do well!

[OnDoutside]

15. Yes they will but Hillary needs to be careful just how

She approaches this.

[Hekate]

34. You mean "careful" like the first debate? Hillary will carefully mop the floor with him...

No problem.

[OnDoutside]

35. I mean careful in that there's a different dynamic

In a town hall, which will require a more subtle baiting.

[stopbush]

10. If true, not much of a chance.

Hillary willclean his clock again.

[Farmgirl1961]

11. It ain't over till...the fat lady sings...

or in this case the Cheeto gets pounded.

I'm hoping Sunday does him in and that it's a landslide victory for Hillary and the dems take back control of the Senate...I'll do my partying on the evening of November 8th and all day on November 9th.

[Renew Deal]

19. When will people understand that doing well for a few days or weeks doesn't invalidate all the bad

That he does? Just because they keep him on a leash doesn't mean he is suddenly presidential.

Voters that are waiting for him to turn it around have discovered fools gold in him.

[beachbumbob]

20. Trump can only go full mad dog on Hillary and she will make him

Look a bigger fool than she did the first time around...

[Coyotl]

21. RU kidding? He's the living dead, hanging on until election day, his funeral.

[ailsagirl]

22. I think he's had it

He did egregiously in the first debate-- three weeks later, he's going to do better? He doesn't know how to act like an adult. He has no control over what comes out of his mouth. You can't tell him anything-- he's sure he knows it all. There's no getting through. He's filled with anger and hate and jealousy-- the best actor in the world would find that hard to hide.

So it's like he got an F on a paper and is going to try to make up for it. He'd have to make an A to ultimately make a C. And it's impossible for him to make an A.

He's toast

[rufus dog]

23. This isn't a debate for the Presidential Election

That is over, only a question of how big of a win for HRC.

This is for saving the Republican Party in this election cycle. If Trump plays the Statesman, doesn't go the obnoxious route he can hold on to enough supporters to keep the race fairly close, keep the Senate close, and retain the House. The media will be more than willing to assist with the meme. Republican voters need any excuse, no matter how lame, to support Trump and the down ticket races.

If Donald does Donald then he will become a greater albatross to all down ticket races by suppressing Rep turnout while motivating Dem turnout.

Which path do you think he will take?????

[underpants]

28. He isn't a team guy

At all. He can't be less statesmanlike than the first debate. In a real world he would tone it down but that's not him. As the great PBS Documentary "The Choice 2016" points out he is ever forward, declare victory regardless of actually losing, be a "killer" as his father told him. Roy Chen was his mentor and he is full Cohen.

[rufus dog]

31. Exactly

I am counting on him to implode.

[The_Casual_Observer]

29. One of the many problems trump has is that

He doesn't realize that the horrible shit he says is wrong and stupid.
When he bellows "I've got a great temperament" he actually believes it, he doesn't understand how idiotic it sounds.

It's not a matter of trying to subdue or change the guy, he is what he is. He won't be able to appear any more reasonable or sane this next time or any time unless he is forced to read somebody elses text word for word on a Telepromter.

[underpants]

30. This is his last real chance. Everything rides on Sunday for him.

and that's just to keep him within arms length of having his head above water.

Any pundit who tried to lower the bar for him is full of crap.

It's all in for him AND the format doesn't working for him in any way

[Siwsan]

32. He is an old dog, and those new tricks will probably be quickly forgotten

Hillary knows his buttons, and she had pretty good timing for pushing them.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

33. Is there *anything* Trump can do at this point

to make the race competitive again? Is there anything Clinton could do that would make this competitive again? GOTV is going to make or break the election, of course, but right now, it seems like Clinton is starting to run away with the election. Trump seems like a walking dumpster fire.

[Johnny2X2X]

36. It is his last chance

And he doesn't need a draw, he needs a decisive win where Hillary makes some big mistakes.

And this format is going to not be a pure townhall. The hosts will ask plenty of questions too. Hillary will be prepared, she can close the door with a good debate. Trump has to swing for the fences, if it's not going his way I could see him totally losing it half way through.

[radius777]

37. Trump is a con-artist, don't underestimate him,

especially in a town hall format where he can appear to be joking and connecting with regular voters. I watched one of these during the primaries, moderated by Joe and Mika, and Trump was very good at working the room and bullshitting his way through the questions.

For this reason I much prefer the standard debate format for Hillary. She's a policy wonk and excels at debating that has a structured format. She does good in the town halls, but the standard debate imo is where there is the starkest contrast between a stateswoman like her and a buffoon like Trump.

And the media is yearning for a tighter race to drive ratings. They basically tipped their hand that they were going to call Pence the winner in the VP debate no matter what happened. Already we've heard people like Gloria Borger and Chris Matthews say that the bar is very low for Trump in the 2nd debate.

Hillary will be ready, but let's not think this is going to be easy.