# Debate Poll **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 28, 2016, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debate-poll/767097 "2016-09-28T01:49:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debate-poll/767097/21 "2016-09-28T17:18:36Z")
I wanted Trump to do well, not because I support him (I don’t) but because I hoped he’s just been terribly misunderstood and isn’t really that bad. Also, just to keep things interesting. But the reality was he got stomped in that debate. Whether Clinton stomped Trump or he stomped himself doesn’t even matter. Probably most ironic was his praise of his own temperament while being critical of Clinton’s stamina. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debate-poll/767097/22 "2016-09-28T17:33:07Z")
Even if the viewership had dropped off heavily after the first half hour or so, it still wouldn’t matter much. The primary value of the debates, in this day and age, is not in the debate itself, but in the key snippets of it that will be shown on the talk shows and campaign ads in the subsequent days. Or, nowadays, posted on YouTube and shared via social media. It doesn’t matter when in the debate those come, and Trump provided plenty of ammunition for Team Clinton. I didn’t watch the debate myself, but what was the worst clip you could extract for Clinton, that would do the most damage to her? Better yet, what were the worst three, or five? Because from what I’m hearing, she didn’t really provide any material that could be useful in a Trump ad, certainly nothing close to rooting for a housing collapse being “just business”, or the birther rambling, or calling a beauty contestant a fat pig. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debate-poll/767097/23 "2016-09-28T17:39:21Z")
> [@](#): > > …or calling a beauty contestant a fat pig. I didn’t get his crack about “Miss Housekeeping” until I remember that one time I was actually in a hotel. That sweet Latina lady that knocked so quietly on my door. “Housekeeping.” Maybe he’s a “man of the people” but its the wrong damned people! ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debate-poll/767097/24 "2016-09-28T17:40:03Z")
I hate public polls on these boards, and typically don’t respond to them, but I would really like to ask the three people who believe Trump trounced Hillary in the debate to explain what he did that convinces them Trump won handily. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debate-poll/767097/25 "2016-09-28T17:52:50Z")
As I post this: 87 “Clinton stomped Trump” to 3(!) “Trump trounced Clinton”, with only a handful calling it close. No one has dared call it a draw so far. Yes, I know the Board membership leans left, but surely not a 30 to 1 ratio. Apparently, debates historically have been responsible for swings of 3-5 points max., so it will be interesting to see where the poll numbers have gone in the outside world by next Monday or so. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debate-poll/767097/26 "2016-09-28T18:15:31Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > … > > Apparently, debates historically have been responsible for swings of 3-5 points max., so it will be interesting to see where the poll numbers have gone in the outside world by next Monday or so. What we really need is a way of determining those voters who sound off in polls, and those who actually drive to the poll to vote. Given the fear driven vote this cycle, I’m hoping the turnout is higher than in the past. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debate-poll/767097/27 "2016-09-28T18:24:48Z")
Note To Self: Only buy Orange Juice with Pulp… ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Krupe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@Leo\_Krupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Krupe)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debate-poll/767097/28 "2016-09-28T18:28:14Z")
I didn’t care for Hillary’s ad libs (she joked aside a couple of times, I don’t remember the exact quotes, but it was in response to Trump), and Trump did get in a couple of punches, but pound for pound, she mopped the floor with him. He was able to get a couple of jabs in, but never followed through. Mostly, his fidgeting, twitching, face mugging, water drinking, face scratching behavior meant he was extremely uncomfortable. And just like Trump, I’m an expert on body language. :rolleyes: She knew what she was talking about, was proud she had prepared, and looked dignified. She smiled, and when she didn’t, she didn’t look dismissive or worse (the Gore sigh). I heard that 80% of the falsehoods mentioned in the debate came from Trump. I didn’t expect Hillary to be 100% honest, but wow, that’s quite a ratio. When all is said and done, I have to wonder if Trump is really what America is about? In hindsight, I can see how he got this far, but if he were to be elected, is that really who and what America is? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debate-poll/767097/29 "2016-09-28T19:01:50Z")
For the first 15 minutes or so, Trump was doing well- then he went downhill _fast_! Considering those few first minutes, I give Hillary a solid win, but not a “trouncing”. ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debate-poll/767097/30 "2016-09-28T19:32:55Z")
I don’t know how anyone can think Trump with answers like. Lester Holt: > [@](#): > > Our next segment is called “Securing America.” We want to start with a 21st century war happening every day in this country. Our institutions are under cyber attack, and our secrets are being stolen. So my question is, who’s behind it? And how do we fight it? Donald Trump > [@](#): > > I do want to say that I was just endorsed – and more are coming next week – it will be over 200 admirals, many of them here – admirals and generals endorsed me to lead this country. That just happened, and many more are coming. And I’m very proud of it. > > In addition, I was just endorsed by ICE. They’ve never endorsed anybody before on immigration. I was just endorsed by ICE. I was just recently endorsed – 16,500 Border Patrol agents. > > So when Secretary Clinton talks about this, I mean, I’ll take the admirals and I’ll take the generals any day over the political hacks that I see that have led our country so brilliantly over the last 10 years with their knowledge. OK? Because look at the mess that we’re in. Look at the mess that we’re in. > > As far as the cyber, I agree to parts of what Secretary Clinton said. We should be better than anybody else, and perhaps we’re not. I don’t think anybody knows it was Russia that broke into the DNC. She’s saying Russia, Russia, Russia, but I don’t – maybe it was. I mean, it could be Russia, but it could also be China. It could also be lots of other people. It also could be somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds, OK? > > You don’t know who broke in to DNC. > > But what did we learn with DNC? We learned that Bernie Sanders was taken advantage of by your people, by Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Look what happened to her. But Bernie Sanders was taken advantage of. That’s what we learned. > > Now, whether that was Russia, whether that was China, whether it was another country, we don’t know, because the truth is, under President Obama we’ve lost control of things that we used to have control over. > > We came in with the Internet, we came up with the Internet, and I think Secretary Clinton and myself would agree very much, when you look at what ISIS is doing with the Internet, they’re beating us at our own game. ISIS. > > So we have to get very, very tough on cyber and cyber warfare. It is – it is a huge problem. I have a son. He’s 10 years old. He has computers. He is so good with these computers, it’s unbelievable. The security aspect of cyber is very, very tough. And maybe it’s hardly doable. > > But I will say, we are not doing the job we should be doing. But that’s true throughout our whole governmental society. We have so many things that we have to do better, Lester, and certainly cyber is one of them. So who is behind it? Russia, China, maybe fat people. No one can possibly know. What do we do about it? Do it better. What else did he say that had nothing to do with the question? Admirals like him. And generals but mostly admirals. Border patrol likes him. Debbie Wasserman Schultz took advantage of Bernie Sanders. America invented the internet. Baron Trump is good with computers. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debate-poll/767097/31 "2016-09-28T19:34:16Z")
I choose Clinton stomped Trump but from the perspective of accomplishing electoral objectives I would say it was a modest win. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debate-poll/767097/32 "2016-09-28T19:37:17Z")
> [@Lance\_Turbo](#): > > Baron Trump is good with computers. Not computers. The “Cyber”. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debate-poll/767097/33 "2016-09-28T19:40:52Z")
To the idea that Trump trounced himself–yeah, he did, but Clinton deserves credit for being skillful in taking advantage of his blunders, as here: CLINTON:—…and they showed he didn’t pay any federal income tax. TRUMP:-----That makes me smart. CLINTON:—So that means zero for troops, zero for vets, zero for schools or health. “Supporting the troops” and “supporting the vets” are part of the self-identity of many Trump voters—and she pointed out, immediately and in clear terms, that _he’d just bragged about stiffing both the active military and the veterans_. (And schools and health, too, of course, but Trump’s fans don’t define themselves as supporters of either.) This goes straight to the foundations of the values proclaimed by his fanbase. They can rationalize just about anything–but can they explain away Trump’s pride in failing to back the troops and vets? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debate-poll/767097/34 "2016-09-28T19:44:43Z")
Its not personal, its just business. And he’s gonna give us the business, good and hard. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debate-poll/767097/35 "2016-09-28T20:31:05Z")
President Trump, Russia is invading England. We need your immediate response. Trump: “Wait, there’s a broken water heater in my new hotel I’ve got to deal with. Dammit, where is my plumber when I need him?” ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2016, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debate-poll/767097/36 "2016-09-29T04:11:07Z")
Hilary sounded presidential and didn’t make many mistakes. Her smile looked scary, like the Joker, but that’s pretty much the worst thing you can say about her performance. The Donald rambled, was boring, made faces, twitched, and mostly wanted to talk about where he owns property. And he visibly lost his cool on several occasions. He looked like a petulant five year old. I don’t think Clinton won the debate, but I think Trump lost it. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2016, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debate-poll/767097/37 "2016-09-29T04:32:34Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > There’s another thread about how people are skewing internet poll results with multiple voting … I can’t figure out how to do that here … any ideas? Depends on how they have set up the poll. They may have set it up so it only uses a cookie to determine if you’ve already voted in which case just clear your cookies, re-vote continue as much as you want. Otherwise it may be done on IP address, but there are various methods of spoofing a new IP address so you can vote again. This, plus the fact that forums can and do call for brigading of online polls is why they are worse than useless, they can be trivially manipulated. It’s even easy to get a script to automatically lodge 10’s of thousands of votes using one of the above methods. And no you can’t do that here because it’s one vote per user, most online polls don’t require unique user registration and even if they do, it’s easy to register under multiple email addresses to vote more than once. (Note, do not do that on this poll, you’ll get banned). ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2016, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debate-poll/767097/38 "2016-09-29T12:35:47Z")
Doesn’t matter who won because the US lost. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2016, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debate-poll/767097/39 "2016-09-29T14:23:02Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Doesn’t matter who won because the US lost. Not even the Arizona Republic, the most important newspaper in the State of Arizona, that once was called the Arizona **Republican** , thinks like that. For the first time in their history they have endorsed the Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton. > **[Endorsement: Hillary Clinton is the only choice to move America ahead](https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/editorial/2016/09/27/hillary-clinton-endorsement/91198668/)** > > The Arizona Republic editorial board endorses Hillary Clinton for president. > [@](#): > > Trump’s inability to control himself or be controlled by others represents a real threat to our national security. His recent efforts to stay on script are not reassuring. They are phony. > > The president commands our nuclear arsenal. Trump can’t command his own rhetoric. > > Were he to become president, his casual remarks — such as saying he wouldn’t defend NATO partners from invasion — could have devastating consequences. > > Trump has praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, a thug who has made it clear he wants to expand Russia’s international footprint. > > Trump suggested Russia engage in espionage against Hillary Clinton — an outrageous statement that he later insisted was meant in jest. > > Trump said President Obama and Hillary Clinton were “co-founders” of ISIS, then walked that back by saying it was sarcasm. > > It was reckless. > > Being the leader of the free world requires a sense of propriety that Trump lacks. > [@](#): > > We understand that Trump’s candidacy tapped a deep discontent among those who feel left behind by a changed economy and shifting demographics. > > Their concerns deserve to be discussed with respect. > > Ironically, Trump hasn’t done that. He has merely pandered. Instead of offering solutions, he hangs scapegoats like piñatas and invites people to take a swing. > \*\* > In a nation with an increasingly diverse population, Trump offers a recipe for permanent civil discord.\*\* > > **In a global economy, he offers protectionism and a false promise to bring back jobs that no longer exist.** > > America needs to look ahead and build a new era of prosperity for the working class. > > This is Hillary Clinton’s opportunity. She can reach out to those who feel left behind. She can make it clear that America sees them and will address their concerns. > > She can move us beyond rancor and incivility. > > The Arizona Republic endorses Hillary Clinton for president. As this is the land of birther sheriff Joe Arpaio, The Arizona Republic staffers are getting death treats from people that for sure love authoritarian guys like Trump or the sheriff; but, as a commentator pointed out, if you do receive death threats you are doing something right as an editor. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2016, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debate-poll/767097/40 "2016-09-29T14:39:17Z")
OK, so it looks like people think Clinton won. But did she cover the spread? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debate-poll/767097.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debate-poll/767097.md?page=3)