US election 2016: Trump v Clinton debate - all you need to know

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are about to face each other in the most widely viewed presidential debate ever.

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton face off on Tuesday AEST. Picture: AFP.

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will face each other on Monday night local time (Tuesday morning AEST) for what will be the most widely viewed presidential debate in history.

What can we expect? Here’s a quick guide.

Students fill in for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump during rehearsals for their debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead. Picture: AP.

Where is it happening and when?

The 90 minutes debate will take place at 9pm local time Monday (11am Tuesday AEST) at Hostra University in Hempstead, New York.

In case you’re interested, Hempstead in Nassau County is the most populous town in the US. If it was incorporated as a city it would be the 18th largest in the country, ahead of Seattle.

Who is the moderator?

NBC News veteran Lester Holt will have the pleasure of refereeing this contest. Holt, a 57-year-old Californian nicknamed “Iron Pants” after working long rolling-news shifts during the 2000 presidential election recount is the first black journalist to moderate a presidential debate since 1992.

Lester Holt.

Modest and diligent, Holt is expected to treat both candidates fairly but the rival camps have already piled the pressure on him. Donald Trump, who has wrongly labelled him a Democrat (he’s been a registered Republican since 2003) has said: A lot of people are going to be watching to see if (he will be fair).”

Hillary Clinton’s communications director has worried publicly that he will set “a low bar” for Mr Trump.

But an NBC staffer assured CNN: “Lester is not going to be a potted plant.”

How does the debate work?

Holt will start the night with a question to Hillary Clinton. She will have two minutes to answer before Mr Trump can come in with his response.

Holt is expected to touch on themes of national security, economic growth and the direction in which the country is headed. Donald Trump’s camp has already said it would be inappropriate for Holt to fact-check the candidates’ statements during the debate, suggesting that he doesn’t want any of his notorious off-the-cuff remarks to be questioned and disproved while the cameras are rolling.

“We need to hear from these two candidates, and I hope and trust the moderators will just facilitate that,” Mr Trump’s running mate Mike Pence said on CBS’ Face the Nation.

Images of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump on a CNN vehicle. Picture: AFP.

How are the candidates preparing?

Hillary Clinton has apparently spent weeks preparing for the face-off, taking part in mock debates and rehearsing the expected scenario in which Mr Trump grills her on her husband Bill’s past affairs.

She’s taking it so seriously she took several days off the campaign trail in the last week to prepare. According to The New York Times, she has a “thick dossier” on Mr Trump that analyses not just his stance on various issues, but his psychological makeup.

Donald Trump’s aides won’t talk about his preparation except to say he’s batted around some ideas with his team at their Sunday meetings and has reviewed his rival’s past debate

performances.

According to CNN, he’ll be depending on his unpredictability to send Mrs Clinton off the rails.

Who will be watching?

Everyone. The TV audience alone is expected to top the record 80 million who watched Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan debate in 1980; but they didn’t have social media back then, which will also be streaming the debate live this time around. So, yes, everyone.

How important is this debate?

With polls showing the two in a near dead heat, this first of three presidential debates is very important; both camps have accepted that it could shape the opinions of a large number of Americans who haven’t yet decided whom to support.

A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll found that 34% of registered voters think the three presidential debates would be extremely or quite important in helping them decide whom to support for president. About 11% of voters are considered “debate persuadables”; they think the debates are important and are either third-party voters or only loosely committed to either major-party candidate. The WSJ reports that 49% of Hispanics, 42% of African-Americans and 39% of voters under the age of 35 say that the debates will be extremely or quite important to them.

Political scientist Terry Madonna told USA Today: “There’s still a large number of people who could sway this election. A one-liner that sticks, a gaffe, something that they do that’s provocative. All of that has the possibility of changing the dynamics of this race.”

What else will people be watching for?

Hillary Clinton’s health will be right up there in everyone’s minds after her wobble — oh OK, collapse — at a September 11 event. Conspiracy theorists will jump on any cough, any physical stumble to prove that she is suffering any number of ailments from Parkinsons to a brain tumour and is therefore unfit for the presidency.

Can we expect fireworks?

Gennifer Flowers 'agrees' to sit front row at first debate https://t.co/JzObajURNU via @nypost

— Gennifer Flowers (@gennflowers) September 25, 2016

Almost certainly, particularly after Bill Clinton’s ex lover Gennifer Flowers confirmed she expects to attend the debate. Donald Trump had threatened to invite the lounge singer after rival businessman Mark Cuban said he would occupy a front-row seat in support of Mrs Clinton. The Trump camp is now insisting they didn’t invite Ms Flowers and say their candidate doesn’t plan to bring up Mr Clinton’s peccadillos in the debate — but he won’t have to with the former president’s second most famous peccadillo sitting just feet away.

Follow the debate live at theaustralian.com.au tomorrow from 11am AEST