Heads up Debate Advice for Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton From a Poker Champion
|
Version 0 of 1. Politics is like poker: You play with the cards you're dealt and against your opponents. And the presidential election is like a big poker tournament. We started with nearly two-dozen hopefuls and now we're down to two. In poker, we call this "heads up." I've won my fair share of big tournaments and heads up confrontations, including 14 World Series of Poker bracelets. So, how can Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton win going heads up for the first time on Monday night at the first presidential debate? I'm expecting Trump to attack Clinton with his usual playground tactics: using simple, effective, and especially relatable insults, the kind that were used as we grew up on the playground. Trump took out Jeb Bush by calling him "low energy," Marco Rubio by calling him "little Marco," and Ted Cruz by calling him "lyen' Ted." As a neutral observer, I was surprised that Trump seared those images into my mind. Every time I heard Ted Cruz backtrack or lie, the image of "lying Ted" popped into my mind. I couldn't help it; Trump's tactics are that good. Much like at the poker table, Trump finds your weakness, and then he exploits it. But he has gone well outside of any traditional or standard strategy. Trump has invented his own strategy, his own style of play. And surprisingly, it has been very effective. Throughout modern history, playground tactics have never worked in a Presidential Election. But Trump has been able to tap into something emotional in the American people. Many of us are fed up with a democracy that doesn't seem to work well (even though most of us would probably admit that we have one of the best systems in the world). Thus, an outsider like Trump can surf on the "system needs to be fixed" wave -- and Clinton is hurt by being an insider. |