8 things you should read before Monday’s presidential debate
The hype surrounding the first presidential debate between Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican candidate Donald Trump on Monday, September 26, is — as the latter would say — huge. Analysts are predicting that anywhere between 80 and 100 million viewers will tune in to watch the nominees for president square off, potentially making it the most-watched debate ever.While there may already be too much media coverage of Clinton and Trump for some people’s tastes, there are plenty of in-depth, substantive pieces of journalism that will help inform voters about the two major-party candidates before they take the stage at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. They include articles about the lives of the candidates before they stepped into the political sphere, scandals that have dogged their pursuits of the White House, and some of the major issues they will likely be asked about by NBC moderator Lester Holt. Here are eight pieces of recommended reading before Monday night’s debate:
The candidates in college
Even in college, Donald Trump was brash — The Boston Globe
Matt Viser talked to a number of Trump’s classmates at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton business school. They paint a portrait of a brash young man who wore flashy suits around the college and was more concerned with taking over his father’s real estate business than going to frat parties or engaging in campus activities.Hillary: the Wellesley years — The Boston Globe
In contrast, this 1993 Charles Kenney article examining Clinton’s time at Wellesley College describes her as a big woman on campus. “Black students and white students, conservatives, liberals, moderates, they all knew her and most had voted for her for one class office or another through the years,” Kenney wrote. “They knew her as a leader and campus activist; as president of Wellesley Young Republicans who, through the chaos of the late ‘60s, evolved into a liberal Democrat.”
You down with TPP?
The Trans-Pacific Partnership, explained — The New York Times
There aren’t many issues that Clinton and Trump are expected to agree on during Monday’s debate, where the topics will include “America’s Direction,” “Achieving Prosperity,” and “Securing America.” One exception is the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a potential trade agreement with 11 other Pacific Rim countries, including Australia, Japan, and Mexico, that would represent the largest regional trade agreement in history, according to the Times. Both Trump and Bernie Sanders have opposed the agreement from the outset, while Clinton sided with President Obama on the issue and called TPP the “gold standard” of trade agreements during her time as Secretary of State. However, she now says she is concerned about the safety of American jobs.GOP senators succumb to Trump’s war on trade — Politico
Clinton isn’t the only politician who has changed her position on TPP. Top Republicans, from Marco Rubio to Pat Toomey, have walked back their support of the agreement since Trump entered the primary in 2015. Pew Research found that the same is true of Republican voters, though Pew’s research concerns all free trade agreements, not just the TPP.
Cracks in the Foundation
Trump used $258,000 from his charity to settle legal problems — The Washington Post
David Farenthold of The Washington Post has done excellent work looking into the questionable dealings of the Trump Foundation, with his latest piece exposing the fact that Trump used $258,000 donated by others to the Foundation for his own personal legal issues. This is only the latest piece by Farenthold, who previously found that Trump used Foundation money to buy a six-foot portrait of himself and an autographed Tim Tebow helmet. A lawyer who advises charities told the Post he had “never encountered anything so brazen.”Foundation ties bedevil Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign — The New York Times
Trump isn’t the only candidate whose charitable foundation has faced scrutiny. Charitable donations to the Clinton Foundation in the tens of millions of dollars from foreign dignitaries raised questions about how impartial Clinton was in her role as secretary of state and would be if elected president, especially when emails were discovered showing Clinton Foundation employees reaching out on behalf of donors seeking facetime with Clinton. Though the Foundation pledged to cease accepting foreign donations if Clinton wins the presidency, some, including
The Boston Globe editorial board, have called for the Clintons to close the Foundation entirely.
Life on the trail
Trump seriously: On the trail with the GOP’s tough guy — Rolling Stone
Trump started to limit wide-open profiles like this one the closer he got to actually securing the nomination, but in 2014 and 2015, he was open to both McKay Coppins of Buzzfeed and Paul Solotaroff of Rolling Stone joining him on the campaign trail. The Rolling Stone peek behind the curtain isn’t pretty, as the candidate proves unable to concentrate on anything for more than 60 seconds, even when trying to prep for a rally.Hillary Clinton vs. herself — New York magazine
While Trump doesn’t always come off looking good in the press — and has blacklisted some publications and threatened to crack down on press freedoms — few would accuse him of avoiding the media entirely. The same can’t be said for Clinton, who has been criticized for her inaccessibility and lack of transparency with the media. This rare peek behind the veil from Rebecca Traister showed a Clinton that differs slightly from the public perception, and highlighted a few more likable human qualities that don’t seem to come through to voters, whose favorability rating of Clinton has remained low. (Though not as low as Trump’s.)
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