Father Carville knows best?

Democratic pundits are offering Kamala all kinds of advice for her first presidential debate against Trump next week. Yesterday, The New York Times even featured a James Carville op-ed touting “the best strategy to defeat Trump.” The consensus has them goading her to use her prosecutorial skills to get under his skin, fueling the prosecutor vs. felon hype.

They’re mostly men who undoubtedly mean well. But much of their advice reeks of unwitting paternalism — even condescension. After all, it’s self-evident that Kamala needs no advice to prosecute a dumb criminal like Trump. Besides, they’re pressuring her to deliver a Perry Mason moment. This not only sets the bar too high, but motivates Trump to do his damnedest to deny her that.

Cohen’s insider information

So, instead of advice, here’s some insider information Kamala might use against Trump. A few weeks ago, Michael Cohen, Trump’s disgruntled Roy Cohn (aka “fixer”), pointed out a big tell: when Trump’s hands start playing his imaginary accordion, it signals he’s doubling down on a big lie.

Given that, the first time his hands start playing that accordion during their debate, Kamala’s “best strategy” might be to call it out. This would likely confound Trump even more than when Chris Christie famously called out Lil’ Marco’s big tell.

Republicans had Horton, Democrats have Braun

That said, I have some advice for the pundits presuming to advise Kamala. Trump pardoned two wife beaters who were rearrested for beating their wives. One of them, Jonathan Braun, was a New York drug dealer and predatory lender with a history of domestic violence. Police arrested him again this week, this time for beating not just his wife but her daddy, too.

Democratic pundits should hang Jonathan Braun around Trump’s political neck the way Republican pundits hung Willie Horton around that of the 1988 Democratic presidential nominee, Michael Dukakis. And Democratic operatives should create a campaign ad condemning Trump for pardoning Braun that rivals the ad Republicans used to damn Dukakis for releasing Horton.