PD Editorial: Testing Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump on the big stage

Debates are a staple of presidential campaigns, but they seldom have a big influence on the outcome of the election.

This year may be an exception.

There isn’t a lot of enthusiasm for Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, and her lead in state and national polls has narrowed considerably as the campaign enters the final six weeks. So what the candidates say and their ability to instill confidence across the airwaves, especially during Monday’s first debate, could be decisive.

Trump predicted recently that voters would watch Monday Night Football instead of the debate, but he doesn’t need to worry about the audience. Network executives expect at least 80 million people to tune in, and a poll published Wednesday projected as many as 106 million viewers - a Super Bowl-sized audience, and the largest for any presidential debate since 1980.

This debate is must-see TV, and voters know it.

Some pundits will tell you that finding the right moment to deliver a preplanned zinger and avoiding gaffes aren’t tests of a candidate’s ability to manage a crisis. They’re right. But presidential debates are a different kind of audition. They’re the only opportunity to size up the candidates side by side, and they’re one of the few times when voters get to hear extended answers to unscripted questions about national security, global affairs, climate change and the economy.

“Of all the big moments in a campaign, this is the only one where the American people are judging both candidates side by side and next to each other,” Michael Feldman, who helped run Al Gore’s campaign in 2000, told CBS News.

So what do Clinton and Trump need to accomplish?

Clinton’s biggest challenge is, well, Clinton. As a former first lady, senator and secretary of state, her resume is impressive, and most voters say she is best qualified for the job, but their reservations about her integrity could cost her the election.

In a McClatchy-Marist Poll published Friday, more than 50 percent of voters said they prefer Clinton’s approach to trade, immigration and handling terrorism, and a 49 percent plurality said she’s better able to deliver good jobs. But just 36 percent believe that she’s honest and trustworthy. She will need more than her seemingly endless supply of five-point programs to address those concerns.

The poll results weren’t much better for Trump: Only 44 percent of voters said the real estate mogul turned reality TV host is trustworthy.

With his penchant for telling whoppers, Trump probably can’t move the needle much on integrity. He might try to capitalize on distrust of Clinton, but he needs to demonstrate that he has the temperament for the job and a grasp of issues and his own policy proposals if he hopes to close the gap.

In primary debates, with as many as 17 like-minded candidates on stage, it was possible to get by with slogans. It won’t be as easy in a 90-minute, one-on-one debate, especially if moderator Lester Holt provides the necessary fact checks and follow-up questions to elicit detailed answers from both candidates.

On Jan. 20, one of these candidates will become president. So tune in at 6 p.m. Monday, and for the three debates (one featuring vice presidential candidates Tim Kaine and Mike Pence) that follow. Listen carefully to Clinton and Trump, then ask yourself who is best suited for the job.