Behind the curtain of the preparation session for the crazy and totally new debate of Andrew Yang

For #YangGang, the first rule of the debate club is not to talk about a debate club. "You have all signed an NDA," they were warned. The second rule is "no phone, no phone, no phone, no phone." And the third rule is to strongly encourage all candidates, with the exception of Andrew Yang.

These were the edicts that Yang's supporters accepted last week to witness the most theatrical simulated debate of this election cycle. Rather than relying on assistants or other politicians to confront his opponents, as is the custom, a quirky and insightful outsider on the Web, aged 44, hired a cast of real actors and actresses to pass him on. through half an hour at the Signature Theater in Manhattan.

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Yang invited a few dozen of his donors to play in front of the audience. They were asked to treat the candidate as if he had no reason to find himself in a presidential debate phase. "You are not Yang Gang right now." You are a donor of the DNC, a long-time DNC donor who only wants us to shut up and have Biden as President at the time current, "said a campaign assistant to the public.

At Yang's right, Kamala Harris's imitator, dressed in a black jacket and pearls, imitated the prosecutor's style of the former attorney general by waving his signature. sharp finger continue his case. To Yang's left, Beto O'Rourke's interpreter imitated the rude and tense speech of the former congressman, who threw himself clenched fists.

Cory Booker's lining, white in color, gave a moving interpretation of the senator's sermon tone. The actor in the stage name, Bernie Sanders, waved wildly and spoke with a passable Brooklyn stamp, but had a nicer suit and a brighter tie. The interpreter Joe Biden broke the character with his clear diction.

And Yang, the real one, did not wear a tie.

The countryside has pushed him out of his comfort zone. Rather than asking tricky questions about his signing problem – a universal basic income designed to help society overcome the burden of automating tasks – Yang put pressure on Medicare for all, tariffs Mandatory Acquisitions of Weapons and Donald Trump's Foreign Policy.

Despite the rules, the crowd slipped under Yang's applause when he concluded his response to gun control. "We all know that 96% and more of these shooters are boys and men. So we must try to invest in schools where boys can become men and not become dangerous for our society over time. "

The debate preparation session, in which POLITICO gained exclusive access to the media, was just the latest example of Yang's unconventional campaign. His innovative approach has made him a successful Internet candidate and, remarkably, has propelled him to sixth place in the overcrowded 2020 presidential race, surpassing a host of more traditionally accredited politicians who are win their life.

After a mediocre performance in the first debate, Yang and his team called on new advisors to rethink their approach for the second at the end of July. This included in part a complete series of local professional performers from venues such as Roundabout Theater. This was a more rigorous form of practice for the first candidate. The team also asked Yang to spend half an hour in advance in a green room, light the stage lights and the audience, and keep Yang standing.

The campaign also asked the public in advance to be hostile.

Yang's assistants stated that they had made a mistake before the second debate by trying to get Yang to follow the scenario of a more typical politician by delivering them "forced sound clips". The immersive simulated session left the candidate more frustrated than the assistants had ever seen him.

"Yang came in, and he's not a big nutty guy, but he came to rip me up and ruined it:" You're trying to make me a politician, "said a manager." And realistically we were, we were trying to make the quack dog like a duck. "

The failed training session led Yang and his campaign to change course and take a breakthrough approach to the fourth wall.

"What the first model has clearly shown is that we would not succeed in transforming Yang into a politician," said one of the key contributors after the first debate. "We had to let Yang be Yang. As a Washington hack that was terrifying. As a Democratic Primary Elector, it's exhilarating.

Yang agrees that the intricate repetition has helped him find his mojo. "The first time I saw this as a debate and the second time, I saw it rather as a media event spread over 10 candidates" – basically, a chance to talk directly to supporters and supporters potential watching TV or online clips, Yang said in a brief interview after the final preparation of the debate.

He added that the preparation sessions helped. "When you do a simulation," said Yang, "it ends up fine-tuning your approach and putting you in such a position that, on the night of the debate, you find yourself there, it sounds more familiar and comfortable. "

In the 48 hours following the second debate, the assistants stated that Mr. Yang had increased more than the previous month (they say they are about to double their total for the second quarter). He received one of the biggest field voting rebounds, which helped him qualify for the September and October debates. His aides ("Make America Think Harder") are selling very well, according to his collaborators, with more than 8,000 orders since the debate.

Yang's campaign tightly holds most of their debate strategy. We do not even know if Yang will go again without a tie. A campaign manager said they had already discussed wearing a bow tie to watch people who made fun of his past clothing choices.

Thursday night, Yang has the opportunity to catapult himself among the candidates of higher rank or to remain relegated to the bottom of the numbers. He seems confident that it will be old. And his campaign shows that viewers will see something they have never seen before in a presidential debate.

"You know that in my last response to the last debate, I explained how it was a reality show and now I understand my role in the show," he said. Yang said after the preparatory session.

He then added, with a bit of mischief: "And I will become the star."