 "Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump")
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's advisor on Hispanic issues, Jose Fuentes, hopes that Monday night's debate helps get across the mogul's image of "change" compared to his "stiff" Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, who - he says - speaks more to people's heads than to their hearts.
In an interview with EFE news at the debate site, Fuentes, the former attorney general of Puerto Rico and a member of Trump's Hispanic Advisory Council, said he hopes to see the Trump that "we've gotten to know in person," whom he calls an easy person to talk to and very well prepared.
Fuentes emphasised that Clinton is a "very stiff" candidate, whereas Trump represents an alternative.
He said that Clinton speaks to people's heads not to their hearts and the public is tired of a Washington politician who says the same thing "year after year", adding that "the people want change" and saying they will get that if they elect Trump.
Fuentes spoke at the David S Mack auditorium at Hofstra University on Long Island, where the first presidential debate of the 2016 campaign is under way.
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The Latino advisor said that voter surveys show that garnering the support of "the large number of undecideds is key" in the November election.
He said that it is a "big problem" for Clinton if the people who have known her for 30 years are not convinced that this is a big opportunity for them, adding that Trump has the chance to pull those votes onto his side of the ledger.
Nevertheless, Fuentes acknowledged the Republican's unpopularity among the Latino community, a result of his controversial comments about Mexican immigrants, whom he called "rapists". and his proposal to build a wall along the US-Mexico border to halt illegal migration.
Fuentes said the campaign is well aware that Trump is behind Clinton in the polls among Hispanics, but he went on to say that the polls also show much indecision among Latinos. Therefore, he said, Trump intends to speak directly to Hispanics, although he did not offer any details about what the mogul might say in the speech he will deliver on Tuesday in Miami.
Monday night's debate, which will last 90 minutes, is the first opportunity for Americans to see how the candidates measure up going head to head on the issues.
An average of the main voter surveys calculated by the specialised RealClearPolitics website shows Clinton has lost the comfortable 8-or-so-point advantage she had enjoyed after the party conventions and now is in a technical tie with Trump with 46 percent to his 44 per cent.
Expectations are for more than 100 million people to watch this first of three televised debates, setting a record for this type of TV event.
