Democrats have some advice for Hillary Clinton at her first presidential debate: Let Trump be Trump.

Donald Trump’s more tightly scripted campaign of late could backfire on him when he squares off against Clinton on Monday in Hempstead, New York, Democrats believe. He won’t be able to rely on the teleprompter he’s been using of late, they say, and Trump’s only recent extended interview with The Washington Post showed that, left to his own devices, he’s apt to stumble back into controversy on issues like Barack Obama’s birthplace.


“He’s going to say some cockamamie stuff,” said Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Jon Tester (D-Mont.). “Give him the rope.”

Indeed, the best strategy for Clinton, lawmakers advised, is to let Trump do most of the talking.

“Inevitably, he’s going to say enough dumb things to dominate the headlines,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). “He’s gonna make mistakes; the question is, how big are the mistakes? And I’m certain there are things she can do that would cause his mistakes to be bigger.”

Clinton will have to parry when Trump comes directly at her, but a more restrained rope-a-dope strategy is preferable to an aggressive posture right out of the gate, Democratic senators said. Trump showed in the Republican debates that he’s best as a counter-puncher, leveling spontaneous one-liners at his attackers that left them reeling.

In one debate alone, Trump dubbed Sen. Marco Rubio a “choke artist” and Sen. Ted Cruz a “basket case.” Rubio notoriously jumped in the sandbox but lacked Trump’s talent — if you want to call it that — for making his zingers stick.

Those moments should be instructive to Clinton, Democrats say, and serve as a warning that she should not rush into a war of words with the pioneer of put-downs.

“She has to be unafraid,” said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada. “He’s a bully; he can’t help himself. I don’t know how he’s going to use a teleprompter in a debate situation. And he can’t control himself. His attention span is nonexistent.”

Yet implicit in Reid’s comments is what is expected of Trump by Democrats: very little. And low expectations could be damaging on a debate night that will set the tone for a six-week sprint toward Election Day.

Though Trump has been less bombastic over the past month, he’s still making headlines on a daily basis, whether by suggesting that Clinton’s Secret Service detail be disarmed or taking credit for predicting recent terrorist attacks in New York.

Given the freewheeling nature of presidential debates, Democrats hope voters will see the vintage Trump that’s been partly concealed in recent weeks.

“Expectations have been exceptionally low for Trump. I think that’s why in large part he has gotten away with it,” said Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.). “If 150 million people are suddenly glued to their TV sets … they are going to be expecting to see the conduct of who they would want in a future president.”

“He’ll do it himself,” said Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.). “There’s never been a time where he’s talked for longer than 30 seconds where he’s managed to say anything. He just says nothing. He’ll say the same empty phrases over and over again, and I think it will become obvious after an hour and a half.”

The debate performances of Clinton and Trump are the subject of much chatter among Democrats on Capitol Hill, who have watched the race tighten after a summer surge by Clinton. When Clinton last visited with Senate Democrats in July, she remarked to the room that she has gotten more advice on debates than any other topic.

“Everybody in the room laughed, because most of us had given her advice on what to do,” recounted Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.).

There’s no constituency that will benefit more from a strong Clinton performance than Democrats desperately trying to take back the Senate this fall. They probably need a healthy Clinton victory to flip a minimum of four seats needed to recapture the chamber. And Clinton needs a strong debate performance to reassert the clear upper hand in the race.

“Of course it’s important; she’s the head of the ticket. The better she does, [the better] we do,” Reid said. “She’s been a successful debater in the race we had with Obama. And she’s been good in the primaries with [Sen. Bernie Sanders] screaming and yelling at her all the time.”

Democrats are counting on Clinton to not just wait for Trump to stumble; she also has to make an affirmative case to undecided voters, they say. That means contrasting her detailed plans for health care, the minimum wage and immigration with Trump’s more broad-brush stands on many issues.

“I don’t think that the question is about attacking Trump at this point. It’s about pointing out her vision for the country,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.). “People vote not only on who they oppose, but they want to vote for something.”

Trump bragged on Fox News this week that he has the “strongest” temperament. But Democrats are betting the 90-minute showdown will reveal the opposite.

“It’s important for people to see this side of him that is very much unpresidential and out of control,” said Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.). “It’s temperament, as much as anything. People want to trust that their president … is in control.”

