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The bad advice someone could give Trump and Clinton tonight

Preparations were underway Sunday at Hofstra University for the first presidential debate.Drew Angerer/Getty Images

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As both Republican and Democratic presidential candidates field calls from friends and family members ahead of the debate tonight, there might be a tendency to repeat the cliché of wishing them good luck and “just go out there and be yourself.”

It would be the wrong advice.

After months of polling in the general election, it is clear that no one likes it when these candidates are “being themselves.” They are the nation’s least popular major party nominees in the history of modern polling. The challenge and opportunity -- in front of what is expected to be the largest television audience ever for a debate -- is to show voters another side.

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It may mean that Hillary Clinton needs to be more like Donald Trump -- confident, snarky, spontaneous and passionate. And Trump needs to be more like Clinton -- predictable, knowledgable, poised and presidential.

It isn’t that one candidate needs to transform his or her image more than the other. Polls show the race tightening, partially as a result of an enthusiasm gap among Clinton’s supporters. A spontaneous smack down of Trump could help turn that around.

Lately Clinton also hasn’t embraced an inspiring message, of, well, anything. Instead she has binders full of policy positions, but no grand theme. She could introduce one tonight -- as well as mention the historic nature of her candidacy as the first female presidential nominee.

Trump, meanwhile, could benefit by being more like Clinton. Again, the polling is clear about why people have concerns about Trump. The ABC/Washington Post survey released on Sunday shows Americans see Clinton as more qualified to be president, having the better temperament, and knowing more about world affairs. If he can show some fact-filled policy chops, especially on matters abroad, he’ll leave the stage in a better place than where he entered it.

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Historically, in many of the first debates, Americans would be seeing one or both of the candidates really for the first time in a sustained way. This is not true for Clinton or Trump, whom voters have known for decades.

But tonight the game plan for both is to somehow convince the slim number of voters still making up their minds that everything they have seen before was all wrong.


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