The stakes have never been higher this campaign than the CNN Debate Wednesday night.  Romney leads in delegates, Santorum is surging, Newt needs another resurrection, and Paul needs a win: 

There are so many lessons to learn from these debates in terms of messaging, presenting and marketing.   So what does each candidate have to do to win? Here’s my suggestions from the presenting and platform skills perspective:

Gingrich:  Newt Needs a Nuke!

The stakes are highest for Newt Gingrich.  His lead after SC evaporated, and his last debate was his worst.  Now he’s back in the pack, and needs a breakout performance Thursday to get back in the conversation.  He desperately needs another YouTube moment; an electric sound bite that goes viral in cyberspace and dominate the news cycle until Saturday’s primary.  For him that means going nuclear.  Like he did in the SC debate to the question about his ex-wife, he needs to go off.  Not on an attack, but a response of indignation to an attack on him, posed by another candidate or a questioner. 

TIPS:  The key for Gingrich now is to ease off the attack.  He’s chasing the field and going after everybody will just make him look cranky.  His best strategy is being the GOP historian raconteur - tossing off anti-Obama rhetoric and GOP red meat sound bites as only he can.  He needs to remind voters that he was a Republican folk hero in the Clinton years.  And campaign food has put a few pounds on him.  He needs to wear a properly-fitting suit, not one that’s bulging at the button.

Romney:  Mitt Needs a Moment!

When he has too much coaching, Romney appears robotic and insincere.   He has a nervous habit to laugh and force a smile when attacked.  This comes across as a smirk and repels viewers.   Likewise when he is getting asked a difficult question: his face freezes in a smirk and he blinks rapidly.  This screams “don’t trust me” to viewers.  He also has a bad habit of resorting to standard stump speech sound bites when answering questions.  He loses the spontaneity and doesn’t connect emotionally to the audience.  He needs a moment - a moment when he lets his guard done, speaks from the heart, and convinces voters that he is human. 

TIPS: If he would turn off the sound and just watch his expressions,  he would see the subliminal message he is sending out.  He did better the last two debates with his new coach.  But with Mitt, it’s about speaking from the heart to connect, and not being over-coached. 

Santorum:  Look ‘Em in the Eye!

Santorum arguably won the last two debates and he’s now the frontrunner in many polls.  Many will be looking at him seriously for the first time.  When he speaks from the heart, he scores big with voters.  His problem is the attack.  When he is contrasting his record against the other candidates, he refuses to look at them, the moderator, or even the crowd.    He cocks his head slightly, tightens his jaw, and stares into space.  He comes across as shrill when he does this, and nobody likes shrill. 

TIPS: If he’s going to challenge someone’s record, he needs to turn, look directly at them, and state his case forcefully but politely.  Voters love his no pretense style and he needs to stay with that. When he stresses his deeply-held beliefs from the heart with no spin - even people that don’t share them respect him.

Paul:  Fight for the Mic!

Congressman Paul is always on the outside lectern and moderators tend to ignore him on many questions.  He needs to force his way into the conversation.  Once he gets a question, his greatest strength is to block out the moderator and other candidates and speak to the crowd.  There is always a contingent of fervent Paul supporters in any crowd, and he needs to come ready to play “Ron’s Greatest Hits:”  Bring home the troops, no undeclared wars, get back on the gold standard, and cut a trillion dollars from the deficit.  Paul’s best strategy is just keep playing the hits and collecting delegates. 

TIPS: Paul doesn’t do spin and just believes in “come as you are.”  But an image makeover would serve him well.  His suits all ride up his neck and make him appear smaller and un-presidential.  They need to be tailored to follow the slope of his shoulders and rest on his neck.  And trim those eyebrows! 

So what do you think?  Who will pull off the win?

-RG