Trump Needs to Bring Grenades to Next Debate

Perhaps the most frustrating moment for Trump supporters during Monday’s presidential debate was when moderator Lester Holt asked the candidates about cybersecurity.

The issue perfectly demonstrates what Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has to do in the next two debates — he cannot afford missed opportunities.

Hillary Clinton promised to bring 200,000 jobs to Upstate New York. Instead, upstate job growth stagnated overall during her tenure, with manufacturing jobs plunging nearly 25 percent, according to the Post.

For Trump, Holt’s query was a golden opportunity. Anything related to the security of emails and computer documents should have been like a coconut-sized softball for the GOP nominee. And that’s because of Democrat Hillary Clinton’s documented problems with her private email server, and the related falsehoods she has told about the issue.

Trump missed this softball by pondering who broke into the Democrats’ servers this summer.

“I don’t think anybody knows that it was Russia that broke into the [Democratic National Committee’s emails],” Trump said. “She is saying Russia, Russia, Russia. I don’t — maybe it was. I mean, it could be Russia, but it could also be China, it could also be lots of other people. It also could be somebody sitting on their bed who weighs 400 pounds, OK?”

Trump let the email issue go by. His surrogates and supporters noticed.

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“400 pounds?” tweeted Rick Santorum, a former foe, now friend, whom Trump vanquished in the GOP primary.

In general, after the first 10 to 20 minutes, Trump was fairly aggressive — but polite. But Clinton made clear that, unlike Trump, she would use family against Trump, as she did when she brought up father Fred Trump and his past loans to Donald Trump’s businesses years ago.

This remark started a string of defensive problems for Trump. He began to let opportunities to talk about the economy, emails, and the Clinton Foundation go. And with NBC News’ Lester Holt moderating, he got no favors. Holt poked and prodded Trump but let Clinton slide.

This is where the pivot comes in handy. Trump needs to learn the pivot. He needs to see when opportunities arise to use against Clinton — and he needs to be more discriminating on what issue to speak about.

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For example, stop-and-frisk is a good issue for pamphlets. But it is not a good issue for lengthy discussion in debates.

So more debate preparation is needed for Trump in the next debates on Oct. 9 in St. Louis and on Oct. 19 in Las Vegas. Trump needs to listen to advisers on how to handle Clinton, because Clinton is listening to her advisers. And apparently she is playing hardball — with grenades. Media reports on Monday morning indicated that Clinton has been using psychological advisers in debate prep. It’s hard to overstate the danger that poses to Trump, a first-time candidate.

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This is why she brought disgruntled businessman Mark Cuban with her to the debate. And she will use Trump’s family business against him. So what should Trump use against Clinton at the next debate? It’s not complicated:

1.) The economy. This is the biggest issue in the campaign — not ISIS. Not energy. Not debt. Hillary Clinton talked more about the economy than Trump. Trump must highlight the poor income growth, poor labor force participation, and poor recovery in the last seven years. It’s why 66 percent of the nation feels the nation is on the wrong track. And Clinton’s record is dismal. As a Senate candidate in 2000, Clinton promised to bring 200,000 jobs to Upstate New York. Instead, job growth stagnated overall during her tenure, with manufacturing jobs plunging nearly 25 percent, according to The Washington Post. In fact, Rochester’s Kodak went bankrupt under Clinton’s nose. Trump did not bring this up. He also should be prepared for Clinton to blame others for her failure. Trump must say he will be accountable; she will not be.

2.) Trump should stop boasting how he didn’t mention Bill Clinton’s affairs. In fact, he would have been in the right to bring up Hillary Clinton’s past defensiveness about those affairs and other ethical questions from the 1990s. In short, Hillary Clinton lied about her critics. In 1998, Clinton labeled the questions about her husband’s moral and ethical conduct as a “vast right-wing conspiracy.” Hillary Clinton was also part of the smearing of women in her husband’s first presidential campaign when the Clinton campaign called criticism “bimbo eruptions.” There is a lot to work with here, and it doesn’t involve getting too nasty about Bill Clinton’s affairs. In fact, during the constant stream of ethical problems in the 1990s, the late New York Times columnist William Safire called Hillary Clinton a “congenital liar.”

3.) The deplorables remark. Hillary Clinton loathes a good portion of American voters. Find a way to pivot back to this at the next debate.

4.) The Clinton Foundation. Hillary Clinton basically turned her office at the State Department into a fundraising tool for her foundation, giving State Department access to donors. Trump must find  a way to raise this issue.

5.) Emails. Perhaps the most potent issue in 2016. Hillary Clinton has lied early and often about not handling classified information in her emails and her private server. Trump must use this issue effectively.