Advice From Obama's Debate Coach

What are Mr. Obama’s top advisers telling him ahead of Tuesday night’s debate?

For the most part, that’s a secret. But a memo from Ron Klain, the president’s chief debate coach, may give some clues.

The memo of debate-prep “rules,” penned years ago and posted online again recently by Third Way, a Democratic-leaning think tank in Washington, urges candidates to write their “dream post-debate headline” as they prepare.

“As you consider potential answers, or lines, or any other element of debate strategy and tactics, ask yourself: Is this approach helping to win that “dream” headline?” Mr. Klain writes.

Mr. Obama got none of his dream headlines after the first debate. Nor did he satisfy Mr. Klain’s second rule in the seven-page memo: to develop a list of “three items you MUST say in the debate.”

The president was roundly criticized after the first debate for failing to mention any of his top priorities: Mr. Romney’s “47 percent” comment; the abortion issue; Bain Capital; or Mr. Romney’s taxes. It’s possible Mr. Klain has stressed rule No. 2 in the days leading up to this debate.

And then there’s rule No.10, which gets at one of the other criticisms of Mr. Obama’s initial performance — that he was sleepwalking through the first debate. “Punches are good, counterpunches are better,” says rule No. 10.

“If you develop five zippy replies to your opponents’ five most commonly used lines, the odds are high that you will get a chance to use two or three,” Mr. Klain writes. “And remember to also game out your opponents’ likely replies to your most common lines: nothing is more effective in a debate than a counter-counter punch!”

There are 21 rules in all. The entire memo can be seen here.

Among some of the more interesting ones: Rule 3 encourages candidates to study what their opponent has been saying in the days just before the debate. “All candidates are creatures of habit. You can use that to your advantage: 90% of what your opponent will say in the debate will have come out of his mouth in the week before the debate,” Mr. Klain writes.

Or Rule 13, which says that a candidate can lose a debate at any time during the event, but that “you can only win it in the first 30 minutes.” He explains: “The viewers, the reporters and even your opponent form a sense of the debate dynamic in the early going. Indeed, for debates held at night, reporters (on deadline) usually write first drafts of their stories before the debate is half over.”

And, finally, Rule 20: “If in doubt, don’t.” Candidates are often uncertain if something they say will come out right, Mr. Klain writes.

“At that moment remember the advice that some elementary school teacher once gave you: ‘If in doubt, don’t,’ ” Mr. Klain writes. “Better to fail to make a point during a debate (leaving open the possibility it can be made post-debate) than to make a point that goes awry.”