First presidential debate: Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton prepare with very different methods

Clinton has been hunkered down for days trying to prepare for two different Trumps to appear, while her opponent seems to be leaving everything until the last possible moment

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As the highly-anticipated debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump approaches, the two rivals are preparing in starkly contrasting ways.

The Clinton camp has taken a more traditional approach to going after Mr Trump in an attempt to prove his unfitness to serve as president. The New York businessman has done relatively little preparation in the sense of debate practice, and has instead looked for any possible vulnerabilities of Ms Clinton’s based on previous debate performances.

Ms Clinton has taken some time off this week to prepare for the debate, making only two campaign stops in battleground states Pennsylvania and Florida.

Ms Clinton faces the particular challenge of preparing for Mr Trump’s dueling personalities: the loudmouth who derailed the Republican primaries with his interruptions and insults, and the one who is considered more presidential by simply sticking to the teleprompter.

“Maybe he will try to be presidential and try to convey a gravity that he hasn’t done before or maybe he will come in and try to insult and try to score some points,” the former Secretary of State said at an August fundraiser.

The Clinton campaign has been tight-lipped about their choice to portray Mr Trump in debate practices, but it is their hope to keep the Democratic nominee on the offensive as the former reality television star will likely try to put her on defence.

It is the campaign’s hope that Ms Clinton can knock Mr Trump off balance and get under his skin, challenging his worth and pouncing on him when he tells a lie.

Barack Obama, who has been aggressively campaigning for Ms Clinton over the past week, had simple advice for the upcoming debate. He encouraged her to be herself in an interview on Good Morning America.

“She’s in this for the right reasons,” he said.

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Donald Trump has considerably less experience than Ms Clinton on the debate stage against a single opponent. He triumphed through the fall and spring debates – which often descended into mad shouting matches – but Ms Clinton faced off against Barack Obama in 2008, not to mention her debates running for the New York Senate seat.

Mr Trump has done very little in the way of actual debate practice this week as he continues his rigorous schedule along the campaign trail, with plans to take a full day Sunday to cram for the first appearance with Ms Clinton.

Anticipating accusations of lying from his opponent, Mr Trump’s handlers are coaching him to respond measuredly, but he will not simulate a full mock debate. Mr Trump had previously spoken out against fact-checking by moderators in this first debate.

In a Monday interview, Mr Trump told Bill O’Reilly that he was not sure he would shoot insults as Ms Clinton during the debate.

“I don’t think I’m looking to do that,” he said. “I don’t know what I’m going to do exactly. It depends on what level she hits you with, if she’s fair, if it’s unfair, but certainly I’m not looking to do that.”

However, Mr Trump has the benefit of low expectations going into the debate. Ms Clinton, on the other hand, faces an impossibly high bar.

“My biggest concern is not a view of any moderator,” Ms Clinton’s senior adviser, Jennifer Palmieri, said. “But just that people accommodate their questions, and lower the bar of their questions to suit the candidate in front of them and that’s what happened with Trump in the past."