Clinton and Trump created psychological profiles of themselves to prepare for the debate

MSNBC’s Chris Hayes says he was joking when a Trump adviser told him, “We’re almost 100 percent sure she’s just going to throw in the towel and show Hillary the moon. We’re terrified.” Still, that’s probably what people are thinking as Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton prepare for their first debate later this evening. But all kidding aside, both camps seem to be well-prepared for this showdown. Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s fresh campaign manager, has been a godsend for a campaign that has struggled after Cleveland. Conway has professionalized the campaign, kept it in the spotlight, and — as a result — led to Trump’s support rising in the polls.

Trump reportedly spoke with his closest advisers, and Clinton did the same, though she said she would make the case tonight that Mr. Trump is “temperamentally unfit” to serve as president of the United States (via Hill):

He spent the preparations with his close advisers, including campaign CEO and former Breitbart News executive Stephen Bannon and campaign manager Kellyanne Conway. Key confidantes and surrogates like Rudy Giuliani, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, as well as advisers Stephen Miller, Jason Miller and son-in-law Jared Kushner, also attended.

Former Fox News chief Roger Ailes also advises Trump on the debates and sends him notes, but has missed the last two debate sessions, according to the Times.

On the other side of the fence, Clinton is reportedly immersing herself in debate preparation, working out answers with her team and holding at least one mock debate.

She is also aware of Trump’s unpredictability — as The Hill reported this week, she is preparing for any stance Trump may take, including aggressive or below-the-belt attacks.

Clinton reportedly won’t be content to criticize Trump for stretching the truth. She wants to launch an investigation into him being temperamentally unfit for office and unstable, two key messages of the campaign.

In addition, both camps delved into the psychological profiles of the other side. Team Trump reportedly built an extensive profile of the former first lady, noting Clinton’s gestures, body language and key phrases she uses when she doesn’t know the answer, indicators Trump could utilize to quickly change his mind or attack her. Clinton’s communications director, Jennifer Palmieri, responded to the incidents with a dismissive “good luck” (via Political):

The “psychological profile,” as the analysis is called, is based on statistical analysis of videotapes of 16 years of Clinton debates, dating back to her 2000 Senate campaign in New York, according to the operatives. They said it was developed with the facilitate of a political data firm called Cambridge Analytica, which specializes in “psychographic” modeling of voters and donors, and that Trump’s top advisers are pleased with the results.

Aides believe the profile shows Clinton has significant weaknesses and have identified her “signals” — words, phrases or gestures she uses when she is unsure of an answer or is trying to avoid answering an uncomfortable question, according to agents familiar with the preparations.

For example, according to one source, an agent who works with the campaign, Trump’s debate prep team believes the profile proves that when “he doesn’t know the answer, he says it, etc.” The goal, the agent said, is to get Trump to recognize trends “so when he hears him say ‘X,’ he’ll know what’s going on and he’ll be able to respond appropriately.”

[…]

Clinton communications director Jennifer Palmieri suggested her campaign wasn’t overly concerned about the psychological analysis of Clinton by Trump’s team. “Good luck,” she said Friday when asked about the story during a pre-debate news conference. “We all saw [Clinton] endure a lot of tough questions over the years. We saw her endure 11 hours of tough questions at the Benghazi hearing. And Donald Trump may think he’s the kind of person who’s going to be able to really get under her skin, but I doubt it.”

Clinton did the same, spending hours talking to multiple advisers to create a profile of the Republican Party candidate (via WaPo):

As Hillary Clinton prepared to face the most unconventional candidate of her political career in a debate on Monday night, her campaign aides engaged in a deep personality analysis of Donald Trump to figure out how he might behave, according to some people familiar with the process.

During a working group session in August, Clinton aides met with a petite group hand-picked by the campaign to facilitate shed delicate on the GOP nominee. The focus on Trump’s personality suggests that Clinton’s approach on Monday could differ significantly from her strategy in past debates — and that her campaign expects this event to be unlike any other.

Aides involved in preparing the debate, including her longtime assistant Philippe Reines, who played Trump in mock debate sessions, spoke for hours with people outside the campaign who were asked to offer advice on Trump’s personality and temperament, according to people familiar with the meeting. The meeting lasted several hours.

That’s it, folks. It’s clear that Clinton won’t gain an advantage over Trump with ads; she’s spent significantly more money on media buys in key swing states, but to no avail. The Democratic blue wall is in delicate shape, and Clinton is considering pulling out of Ohio. Guy noted that this is a pretty clear 180-degree turn from Clinton’s campaign, which recently boasted about its Electoral College lead. The debates are the last forum where both deeply unpopular candidates could gain an advantage over the other. In a sense, this is a Clinton-Trump debate to lose, with Trump potentially undermining his surge in support among voters, while Clinton must succeed in portraying the real estate mogul as inadequate — and trying to bring back to Clinton’s camp the disgruntled Democrats who have defected to third-party candidates. Clinton could also try to attack Trump for his past statements that turned out to be untrue, which could prove to be a double-edged sword since Clinton lied about her emails, which turned out to be one of her campaign’s Achilles heels and could be rehashed in front of 100 million people.