With Donald Trump's poll numbers now doubling and in some cases tripling the GOP field, his GOP rivals' work is cut out for them in Thursday's debate: They must do whatever they can to lift their own standing, while dinging Trump's popularity whenever the opportunity arises.
Publicly, the Republican presidential candidates and their handlers all dismiss the significance of polls taken so early in the cycle. But Trump's abrupt surge has added new urgency to putting the brakes on his runaway political freight train.
Newsmax consulted with several analysts who shared their top 10 ways the field can try to take down The Donald:
Hit him in absentia. So far Trump has shown a predilection for firing all guns at whichever opponent tries to take him down. That makes directly attacking Trump a risky proposition. But for the seven candidates who missed the cut off due to low poll numbers, that's not a problem -- Trump isn't on their debate stage, and he's liable to be too busy to fire down at them.
Keep in mind that two of Trump's biggest critics, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, fell short of qualifying for the main event and are participating instead in the so-called "Happy Hour" debate. Firing off a really biting critique of Trump might be their best chance of having their names picked up in the media echo chamber -- and they won't have to worry about him firing back Thursday.
Attack his TV career. "People think they know Trump, but what they're really seeing is a TV character," long-time GOP strategist Kevin Madden, a former Romney spokesman, told CNN. "One effective strategy would be to reveal that, with Trump, it's all an act."
Don't be surprised if a lower-rated candidate who desperately needs more coverage, perhaps a Chris Christie or a John Kasich, tries to make this point by saying something along the lines of: "When it comes to the reality of how Washington works, TV star-candidates should all be fired."
Goading the bull to charge. Trump comes into the debate playing down expectations and saying he'd prefer it to be "very civil." But if his biggest weakness so far has been the predictable way he unloads on anyone casting aspersions his way. Where this could blow up in his face was illustrated in his exchange with Arizona Sen. John McCain. McCain fired the first salvo, calling Trump's supporters "crazies."
But it was Trump's overreaction -- his initial assertion that McCain was not a war hero, which he immediately rephrased and walked back -- that would dominate the news cycle for the next several days. That suggests candidates might snipe at Trump until he fires back, then profess to be offended by his reaction. Nasty politics? Maybe so, but that's why pundits like to observe: "Politics ain't beanbag."
A Lilliputian barrage. One way to take down the proverbial 900-pound gorilla is to gang up on him. When many rivals coordinate their tactics, it is much harder to respond. Trump may find himself taking fire from all sides, a frustrating situation that could irritate him to the point of committing a faux pas.
Syndicated national columnist and pollster Matt Towery tells Newsmax that a coordinated attack could also give Trump an opportunity to shine. "If he continues to be candid, but keeps his cool, and notes the fact that the reason he is being attacked is he's the front-runner, then he can emerge from this thing as the winner of the debate," Towery declares.
Indirect Brickbats. Thursday's gamesmanship may be limited by the fact that the debate rules restrict answers to one minute in duration. However, whenever a speaker invokes the name of another candidate, the moderators will turn to the person being attacked and give them a chance to respond.
To avoid handing valuable air time to a rival, look for candidates to take jibes without naming names. Trump's prominence in the culture should make him the most inviting target for references that the audience will understand even when he isn't actually named.
Constant interruptions. Moderators all enforce the rules differently. Some run a tight ship, while others prefer a more sharp-elbowed competition. One way to throw off an opponent's rhythm is to continually utter gadfly objections, like: "If I could just respond to that…" before the other candidate has finished speaking. It's a high risk strategy because if the audience senses an ulterior motive it could backfire.
But given Trump's lead in the polls, some candidates on the stage at Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena will have little or nothing to lose.
Try to make Trump look unpresidential. One of the least-appreciated factors in voters' decisions on whom they will support is temperament – whose manner best reflects the gravitas, grace, and confidence one might expect from the leader of the free world? To appreciate this factor, one need only recall the eagerness of the Obama campaign to use a faux presidential seal during his 2008 campaign.
The more establishment GOP candidates – Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, and John Kasich – seem to never lose their focus on looking like a president. Bush, as the favorite of the political establishment, may take the high road and let other candidates take on Trump, who appears at times to revel in flouting the conventional thinking on how to succeed in politics. So far it's been working for him, but with so many TV cameras watching his every move, he'll have to walk a fine line.
Boston University professor and commentator Tobe Berkovitz tells Newsmax, "The old saying is, 'Never get in a pissing match with a skunk.' The same holds true for a TV celebrity host." But he adds that "attacks on Trump just give him more of the spotlight, as if he needs it."
Prepare a killer line in advance. In 1984, when Ronald Reagan, 73, was up for re-election, he knew the issue of his age was likely to be raised. When it came, Reagan was ready. "I will not make age an issue of this campaign," he said. "I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience." Even Democratic opponent Walter Mondale had to chuckle in response.
If Trump becomes a little too predictable, his opponents can look smart by having their response memorized and ready to go. Walker, for example, has been rehearsing one-minute responses and 30-second rebuttals in case Trump continues to attack his record in Wisconsin and his shifting position on Common Core education standards, according to The New York Times.
Embrace social-conservative issues. Trump may feel he needs to shore up his standing with social conservatives. Pollster Towery comments: "What the other candidates have to do is force Trump to get out of his comfort area… issues like guns, religious issues, abortion … the issues that are otherwise going to Ben Carson, Mike Huckabee, and some of these other candidates are issues he'll have to be strong on, because if he's not, he'll start losing some of his base that he's created."
The candidates with strong standing in the social-conservative community, including Carson, Huckabee, and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, are likely to emphasize their social-conservative bona fides. Directly challenging Trump's credibility in that area would be a high-risk strategy, but one sure to land them a lot of buzz on social media and in Friday's newspaper headlines.
The Counterpunch. The most devastating blows in the history of political debates have all been counterpunches. Think of Reagan scowling at Carter, and disapprovingly stating: "There you go again." Or think of Lloyd Bentsen's riposte to Dan Quayle after he compared himself to JFK: "Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy."
As political strategist Steve Schmidt recently told The New York Times: "The best thing is for candidates to be ready to strike at opportunistic moments as soon as they hear them. There are very few instances where candidates score points by striking first; it's more often the counterpunch." In the 2012 debates, when President Obama brazenly claimed to have called the Benghazi attacks an act of terror -- which he did followed by weeks of obfuscation on the issue -- it was Mitt Romney's apparent unfamiliarity Obama's nuanced Rose Garden remarks, abetted by CNN moderator Candy Crowley's untimely intervention, that cost him his opportunity to land a counterpunch.
Striking back immediately is the most effective debate technique, but whether The Donald can duck an effective counterpunch, or land one, will be what millions of anxious viewers are tuning in on Thursday night to see.
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