That was actually his strongest part of the debate – he’s not trying to win black votes. He’s trying to win white ones and Hillary is also trying to win white votes but without alienating and demoralizing black voters. Advantage Trump. But the rest was Trump drinking water, looking frustrated, trying to talk over her and the moderator, and just looking unprepared. If you’re a Trump partisan, sure, Trump looked like JFK. But to others I’m guessing Hillary at minimum didn’t lose, and most likely won.
Trump said stupid things, and he got caught in the weeds trying to defend himself, whch was a bad idea.
But he won the debate. He won because the main thing he had to accomplish was to plant the idea in the minds of the public that he could be President. The bar for him was incredibly low, and he managed to drag himself over it.
If the public starts thinking of him as a real Presidential contender and not as a reality show host on a lark, he comes out ahead. In a way, it was hard for him to lose once he was on that stage unkess he said something so ludicrous that even the average non-political viewer would have said, 'Holy shit, that guy can never be President!" He avoided doing that - somehow.
Not sure there is such a word. If there is, its a mistake.
Overall I was very pleased. Betting markets have Hillary up 7 points since the start of the debate.
In your guts, you know he’s nuts…
Not so fast! You have to shoot me first.
Exactly! Pronouncing ‘nuclear’ correctly puts him head and shoulders above the last Republican president. His prep paid off in spades!
He/she meant he sounded like he could be the President of Clowns.
I certainly have a lot of uncomfortableness about it.
So what crazy thing does Trump do tomorrow to try to change the subject from his loss?
Goodness!
I don’t think every last thing Trump suggests is bad or wrong. Be a trade hawk? Debt is bad? Understanding money is good? Ok, I’ll listen. But his thoughts seem broken, he doesn’t just interrupt others, he interrupts himself. And- Hillary is mean for spending $100’s of millions on attack ads to win the election? WTF? Repeatedly, he seemed so defensive that he was like a crazy person.
Meanwhile, Hillary seemed confident and full of answers. She seems to be struggling to avoid the robot speech thing she does, mostly successfully. Definitely more presidential and professional, while seeming to yank his chain all night. She had the stamina for that much at least.
So what’s the general consensus on whether the reports that Trump wasn’t preparing very hard were accurate or not?
Has Tom Brokaw developed a speech impediment? His diction sounded a little slurred.
LOL. He didn’t even have a coherent answer on birtherism. Much less, you know, policy.
pure ass-covering.
…evidently, he had the best… the Very Best… Coke…
I agree that no supporters of Trump or Hillary switched sides because of tonight. However, many undecided voters are really looking at these candidates for the first time. Almost all of these independents are not ideologues and go solely on appearances. I think that Trump’s “you have had the chance to fix these problems for 30 years and you and all other politicians have done nothing, and I can get it done” sold well with this group.
Hell, I’ve been wrong before, but Trump did what he needed to do on that front, and Hillary didn’t really do anything but push the traditional Dem laundry list of programs. I think Trump picks up 2 to 3 points here.
Well, I read several folks saying he would go the “scandal” route, which seems so, he brought them all up. Did he miss any, outside of Whitewater and Vince Foster?
It’s a funny thing, I listened to the first half on the radio in my car. It seemed Trump was holding his own and got in a few good jabs. I saw most of the second half on television and thought Hillary gutted him like a fish.
Who knows how this will play out in the polls. I would guess independents will find her more attractive as POTUS but this election is so weird I won’t be placing any bets just yet.
I feel even better about Hilary than I already did.
She wiped the floor with him.