The reality is this race is TIED. We NEED to win tonight.

[ram2008]

The strategy of 'let Donald fail' isn't going to cut it. A significant amount of this country is in fact part of the 'basket of deplorables.' We elected George W. Bush... twice. People like the pretend tough guy, my way or the highway asshole. Believing they will wise up and magically gain some intelligence and realize how bad of choice Trump is, is like believing in Santa Claus -- not going to happen. The amount of denial and unskewing on these forums reminds me of Republicans in 08 and '12. Numbers don't like, this is close.

Now, how do we right this ship?

1) Hillary needs a win tonight-- she does this by giving people a reason to vote for her, not a reason to vote against Trump. We know he says mean things, lies based on the situation, and is a narcissist. WE GET IT and so does the rest of the country already. Talk about yourself and your accomplishments. Sidenote--I'm a bit baffled as to why Hillary hasn't been airing more ads about herself and her story, all the ads I see are things about Trump, which isn't very inspiring. I'm hoping there will be a more autobiographical push after these debates.

2) Show some human, unscripted Hillary. Trump is the unscripted candidate, he will try to throw her off her game and make her seem like a robot (Remember marco?). She needs to let loose a bit and not be afraid to get off her talking points.

3) Slay on the issues. This is the bread and butter. The majority of Americans agree with Hillary on the issues, not Trump. We've become so consumed by the Trump vortex, that if you ask a random person on the street where Trump stands on something like same-sex marriage, you'll get 3 different answers. Most people don't know Trump will appoint anti-LGBT, anti-women supreme court justices, they don't know he'll tear up Obamacare (destroying the Presidents legacy) and kicking millions of people off coverage, they don't know he think global climate change is a hoax. Hillary knows the ins and outs of policy, all she needs to do is show it with a liberal bend and she wins.

4) Pin herself to Obama. Self explanatory-- he has high approval ratings and will bring up voter turnout. Many voters who are reluctant to vote for Hillary still hold Obama in very high regard. If she defends him and Trump attacks, it will hurt Trumps image. By proxy, an attack on Obama helps Hillary with undecideds and will bring back many people who were thinking of third party.

Those are my thoughts at least.

[Doctor Jack]

1. If David Plouffe says it isnt tied

Im inclined to listen. They are saying that Clintons highly targeted and sophisticated internal polls are showing a very different story.

[ram2008]

5. I'd be skeptical of any democratic or republican operative who speaks about internals.

Remember Romney was convinced he'd win based not their internal numbers?

I'm more inclined to follow the numbers and the people that read them like Nate Silver and Nate Cohn. Right now it shows Hillary up about 2 both nationally and in the projected electoral college (272). This is pretty much a tie in a general, a weather difference in one state, a voter purge in another, some electoral shenanigans can flip the entire election pretty easily.

We absolutely need a win tonight. A loss and we are guaranteed to fall behind.

[vadermike]

2. Really

But the public polls are showing strong trump trend Someone's wrong I hope it's not us

[MADem]

3. I think you're overly concerned. It's a tie amongst white people.

When you factor in others, HRC is winning by strong margins.

The GOP-owned media wants a horse race, and they're determined to push a narrative that will make it seem like that's what they've got.

This contest will come down to ground game and GOTV, and only one candidate has the machinery to make that happen.

[Joe941]

4. I disagree. Clinton is comfortably leading...

And when trump starts to rant just sit back and enjoy.

[ram2008]

6. Leading comfortable is clinging to a 1.7 point lead?

Down from a 4 point lead a month ago?

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/us/general_election_trump_vs_clinton_vs_johnson_vs_stein-5952.html

[Joe941]

7. Don't get caught up in the noise of polls...

clinton has consistently been leading and that won't change.

[ram2008]

8. It's not noise, it's a trend

A pretty clear one if you look at the chart given by 538.

http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2016-election-forecast/?ex_cid=rrpromo

[Joe941]

11. It changes from day to day and even hour to hour...

[ram2008]

14. Yes and day to day steadily downward

That is a trend.

[Cosmocat]

9. She will do her part

I am very confident in that.

The questions are

1) How DT does, and I suspect he will play it mostly straight.
2) How does it get spun. If Trump fogs a mirror wo taking a sledge hammer to it, it will be given to him by the media.

If we want some breathing room at this point, it is only going to come from Trump getting off Conway's leash post debate, pouring gas on himself and lighting it (see what he did for months on end from June through August) REPEATEDLY over the next 6 weeks.

[triron]

10. BS

[democrattotheend]

12. The good news is, the good polls for Trump will make him cocky

It seems he behaves best when he is down in the polls, then goes off the rails again once he sees some good polls. So the fact that there were some good polls for him this morning might be a blessing in disguise.

[book_worm]

13. The reality is it is not tied

Most national polls give Hillary a lead of 2-5 points. Most key states give HRC a lead.

[ram2008]

15. 538 has Hillary at 272 electoral votes, with 1.5 lead in CO

If CO flips red, then Donald Trump is the next President. It may not be an exact tie, but pretty darn close to it.