"Five Questions with Brett O'Donnell"

Brett O’Donnell is the President of O’Donnell & Associates (http://odacommunications.com/) and was most recently the Chief Strategist to the Bachmann for President Campaign. O’Donnell also assisted in preparing Governor Mitt Romney for Presidential Primary debates in Florida.  Brett is the former Director of Debate at Liberty University and I first met him at the 1995 University of Michigan Debate Camp.

1.  Should Governor Mitt Romney be favored to win the first debate since he participated in 19 GOP primary debates throughout last fall and the early part of 2012, while President Obama hasn’t debated since October 15, 2008?

"No, President Obama has the advantage of the Presidency which is huge in having the materials necessary for debate preparation and because he has been through the Presidential debates before.  While the experience of the primary debates is important, there is a significant difference in the scale of the presidential debates.  100 million will watch them compared to 7 million that watch primary debates." 

2.  Do you think Governor Mitt Romney will perform better in the more traditional debate format moderated by Jim Lehrer and Bob Schieffer or the town-hall format moderated by Candy Crowley?  Why?

"Governor Romney's ability to connect with voters in the town hall debate will be critical to his debate performance in the fall.  He did very well in numerous town hall meetings while running for president, but President Obama was very effective in town halls in his first campaign and has proven his ability to connect with voters.  It is probably this characteristic which is keeping voters from abandoning him in the face of terrible economic data." 

3.  In an interview with ABC 13 News in January, you said that “candidates tend to underestimate the amount of preparation necessary to actually execute a debate”.  Do you think the four debate participants are currently preparing enough for their upcoming contests?

"You can never prepare enough.  I do not know what their prep schedules are so I can't say whether or not they are preparing enough." 

4.  Governor Mitt Romney proposed a $10,000 bet to Rick Perry during a GOP primary debate and said he likes “being able to fire people”.  President Obama has said “the private sector is doing fine” and “you didn’t build that”. Given these verbal stumbles, do you expect any major gaffes in their three debates?" 

"Gaffes are unfortunately one of the factors that determine who wins presidential debates because of the media focus they receive. There is usually some moment in every cycle that defines the debates and we should expect no less this time."

5.  You helped prepare Sarah Palin for her debate against Joe Biden.  How do you think Vice President Biden did in that debate and how do you think he will fare this time against Paul Ryan?

"Vice President Biden was measured and did well in the debate against Palin.  His performance was overshadowed by Palin's though beginning with "Can I call you Joe" at the beginning of the debate.  Biden has extensive experience having run for President twice and being in the VP debate in 2008.  That said, Ryan is a very effective speaker.  He may face the same fate this cycle as well--one where he performs well but has that performance overshadowed by a unique opponent."