这可能是2016年总统竞选的决定性时刻。
据估计，星期一，民主党总统候选人希拉里·克林顿和共和党总统候选人唐纳德·川普的首次辩论有可能吸引1亿观众，届时人们将有机会对首次同台的候选人进行评估。
这次辩论对两位候选人都利害攸关。观众们不仅会留心他们所说的话，还会留心他们说话的方式，以及二人彼此间的应对。
这场辩论将成为川普的关键时刻。最近几周，他缩小了与民主党人克林顿之间的民调差距，部分原因是他显得比过去更加自律，而且把重点放在了他的中心议题上。
川普在佛罗里达州迈尔斯堡的一个集会上对支持者们说：“我们要使美国再次强大起来。我们要使美国再次安全起来，我们要使美国再次伟大起来。”佛罗里达州是关键的摇摆州之一，川普在最近的民调中已经与克林顿持平。
就克林顿而言，她期待通过这次辩论安抚她的支持者们，并推行她提出的希望建立一个更具包容性经济的信息，正如她最近在佛罗里达州奥兰多的一次集会上所说：“我们都是有价值的人。在美国这个世界上最伟大的国家，我们认为人人生而平等。”
川普和克林顿似乎正在以不同的方式为辩论做准备。克林顿花很多时间在辩论练习上，包括与扮演川普的人进行模拟对决等。
川普的准备工作据报没有那么耗时和紧张。他在宾州一个集会上抨击克林顿说，“有人说她一直在练习辩论，也有些人认为她在睡觉。”
民主党人希望在首次辩论中川普会表现出他更为鲁莽的一面，就如他在一些共和党初选辩论中所表现出的那样。但川普新竞选团队的人员最近成功地帮助他保持专注，更少因进行人身攻击的诱惑而分心。
It could be the defining moment of the 2016 campaign.
Monday's first presidential debate between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump may draw, by some estimates, 100 million viewers, who will be able to take the measure of the candidates for the first time on the same stage together.
The stakes for both contenders are enormous. Viewers will not only be paying attention to what is said, but how it's said and how the candidates react to one another.
The debate will be a key moment for Trump, who has closed the polling gap in recent weeks against Democrat Hillary Clinton in part because he has presented himself as more disciplined than he has in the past. He has also focused on his central theme.
“We will make America strong again. We will make America safe again, and we will make America great again!” Trump told supporters at a rally in Fort Myers, Florida, one of the critical swing states where he has drawn even with Clinton in recent polls.
For her part, Clinton looks to the debate to reassure her supporters and to push her message of wanting to build a more inclusive economy, as she did during a recent rally in Orlando, Florida. “We are all of value. In the United States of America, the greatest country in the world, we believe everyone is created equal!”
Trump and Clinton appear to be prepping for the debates in different ways. Clinton has spent a lot of time in debate practice, including mock face-offs with surrogates portraying Trump.
Trump's advance work has been reportedly less time-consuming and intense. He also took a swipe at Clinton during a rally in Pennsylvania. “Well, they say she has been practicing for the debate. Some people think she's sleeping.”
Democrats hope a more reckless version of Trump shows up in the first debate, more in keeping with his past performances in some of the Republican primary debates. But Trump's new campaign staff seems to have had some success of late in keeping him focused and less distracted by the temptation of launching personal attacks.
