Time Mike Murphy: Debate Prep Is a Pain

TW: Mike Murphy is a Republican consultant, one I like and respect. This is a nice, pithy piece on the mundane and somewhat cynical prep process.

Murphy:
"Though it sounds secretive and glamorous, debate prep is magnificently unpleasant for everybody involved...Good debate prep is designed to build up, not tear down, the candidate's confidence...A lot of debate prep is given over to mastering another basic rule: never make the rookie's mistake of actually trying to answer the question you are asked...Consultants have spent the equivalent of entire geologic ages trying to come up with the one item every candidate deeply pines for: the devastating one-liner. To be really devastating, the line must appear to be true, clever and, especially, spontaneous...Finally, the savvy viewer should remember that any moment that looks too perfect to be true probably isn't. I once worked on a campaign in which we made a big show of opening our secret debate-prep session to reporters. The highlight was the part when the candidate dramatically rejected the lame, scripted debate answers we staffers had offered up, vowing instead to just tell it like it was...We were very proud of our candidate; that was precisely the bit we had carefully rehearsed."