Many in the media were calling Donald Trump the winner of Monday's debate against Hillary Clinton at Hofstra University. Analytically, I don't see how. Hillary was much better prepared, had greater command of the issues, was more presidential and on more than one occasion managed to get under Trump's skin. So why wasn't she the clear winner?
My guess is some are calling Trump the winner simply because he didn't get blown off the stage, didn't make an enormous mistake, and wasn't *totally* obnoxious. If you had such *low* expectations for Trump, then yeah, I guess you could consider that a win.
I, however, had expected Trump to be good. His handlers have been coaching him up for a while, and I think he knew that he couldn't be the same Donald Trump that he was in the GOP debates. I think he *WAS* the same Trump, only a tamer, toned-down version. He was still an obnoxious blowhard who constantly interrupted and tried to turn the debate into his own personal reality TV show.
My feeling on these first two debates is that Trump's goal is to pass the "Reagan Test." That is, he needs to come off as knowledgeable enough and temperamentally presidential enough for enough voters to make him their presidential choice. I'd have to give Trump an incomplete in this regard. Although I don't think he failed this assignment, I don't think he passed it either.
As for Hillary, I thought her performance was quite good. She wasn't as robotic as she was during her acceptance speech at the Democratic Convention, and she wasn't afraid to tangle with Trump as needed. Some of her supporters were disappointed that she didn't destroy Trump, but to do so would have risked running up her negatives even more and may not have succeeded.
In short, I don't think this debate will change many minds. Trump may have helped himself by persuading more reluctant Republicans to "come home" and vote for him, but I doubt it had much effect on anyone else. Hillary still needs to convince some of Bernie Sanders' young supporters that she's worth voting for, but I doubt she made much headway in that regard. I suspect that relatively few in this group can be reached at this late date.
Generally speaking, third debates don't do much of anything to move the needle, so the second debate, Oct. 9, may be the last big chance for the candidates to alter the race. Clinton didn't get her knockout Monday night, and Trump didn't pass the Reagan Test. One more shot may be all they get.
Unless something changes, we appear to be headed to the typical Red State/Blue State election with just the few usual tossup states deciding the outcome.
I think it's a deep flaw in our electoral system that the only voters who basically matter in presidential elections are those in about a dozen or so states, but there is realistically no hope of reform. If Congress can't even pass a simple budget bill, you can imagine how remote the odds are of the lawmakers in D.C. being able to agree on a constitutional amendment!!!
Trump *might* be better than Bush or Cruz, but that's about it. Bush would have been a hard sell because the name has been so tarnished, and Cruz (I hope) would have been exposed for the total scumbag that he is.
Despite what you might think, the market wants Hillary. When it was determined that she won the debate the Peso climbed 2.1% in a day.
Btw a friend of mine put his condo on the market because he's afraid Trump will get in and the market will crash afterwards. His condo just went under agreement and he's going to rent for a year now.
When he went to his banker the banker, a white republican told him that he's the 3rd person this month who has sold a property for fear that Donald Trump could get in and crash the economy.
As for Hill, she's run a mostly "play it safe" campaign, and I think that may explain why she didn't go for a knockout blow. Her image is harsh enough without risking being judged as even more of a "witch." :)
Trump did about as well as I expected. 90 minutes is way toooo long for him to keep Tiny Hands under control and he couldn't after about 30 minutes. His constant interruptions, constant snarky comments was The Donald from the primary election. He has smart handlers but he can't be handled.
Hillary was very disappointing to me. She was so well prepped, rehearsed and waiting for the opportunity to use the takedowns she had planned she missed an opportunity for a knock out. When he said she had been fighting ISIS her whole life, how can you be so slow you leave that wide opening pitifully responded to? "Really Donald, in your mind I am superwoman, responsible for everything that happened under Clinton, Bush and Obama." "In your mind I was President and held every cabinet position." "I'm a superwoman Donald but as usual you have grossly exaggerated my influence."
Hillary needs a nasty queen on her staff who can teach her how to do snap backs.