Donald Trump and nine other people will take the stage in Cleveland on Thursday night for the first of at least nine Republican presidential debates. Earlier in the day, several lesser-known candidates will go at it on an undercard that’s been set up to contend with the fact that 17 people think that they should be the GOP nominee.
We at 2016 FIRST TO LAST are charitable souls, and we want to help them all, if for no other reason than that covering such a large, chaotic field is so much fun. One obvious priority for the debaters is to be ready for the Godzilla of Glitz to stomp on you with his gigantic Gucci loafers. (Although Trump said in a tweet that he’ll be playing nice.)
You need to have a calm, classy and substantive comeback. You also need to remember that the FOX moderators are (maybe!) out to get Trump, whom their boss of bosses, Rupert Murdoch, can’t stand. So that means: Get out of the way. And of course: Always lower expectations -- to zero if possible -- since this whole thing is such a circus.
But beyond that, what should you, the candidate, do? Sadly, no rich megadonor is paying us, but here is our premium (free) advice.