It was as advertised; a somewhat boring affair with Clinton at her coldest and Trump at a 7 out of 10 on the narcissistic rage scale. Nothing of substance came out of either candidate regardless of the fact that fairly substantive questions were asked. Questions were left unanswered and the best the viewer got out of it lands somewhere between, “what have we done” and “is it too late to pick a couple other candidates?” The best overview / rundown of the night was a single tweet I read which simply stated: “We are talking about birtherism before national security. Let that sink in.”
TRUMP: Breakdown and lasting question
He started strong and brought up the fact that she had been a career politician with little or nothing to show for it. He hammered her record and for a few minutes made her look like a lightweight compared to his tell-it-like-it-is rhetoric. However, that was only after she had brought up the fact that his father facilitated his success with his loan. It shows that he can still be gotten to. His past and his family’s past is his Achilles heel and anything to do with him personally sets him off like a roman candle. His entire appeal among his mainstream followers is the fact that he is not a politician and that he is a business success who seems to be as upset with the direction of the country as they are. What he is overestimating however, is the amount of self-serving grandstanding the on-the-fence voter can handle. The answer remains to be seen in November but I am guessing that answering policy questions with examples of your all-inclusive and racially welcoming golf resorts isn’t going to be something that makes you look like a deep-thinking policy genius. He is going to need to look far more presidential in the next two debates to repair the damage he did to himself last night when it comes to policy and planning. If he can’t beat Hillary in a debate… how can he expect us to believe foreign powers will capitulate to his brand of bluster? Question: How the HELL did he not destroy her on the emails when they had a five-minute back and forth on cyber attacks and the possibility of cyber terrorism?
CLINTON: Breakdown and lasting question
Woah. It is always interesting to watch a politician lie. It begs the question; how does someone train themselves to be devoid of all feeling? It’s actually impressive. What she lost in the beginning she made up for during the second half of the debate by putting Trump on the defensive. He is not good when he is on the defensive. Now she knows that. No one is really all that good on the defensive. Proof of this fact was seen last night when she simply thumbed over the fact that her email gaffe potentially put America and Americans abroad at risk by saying; “I made a mistake.” What would you expect from the woman who also famously asked what difference it made? She has been in this circus long enough to understand more about policy and the repercussions of policy decision than her opponent. That was made painfully evident by the fact that she is more automaton than human. Her thousand yard stare, forced chuckles and emotionless delivery is downright creepy. Does she have the chops to be the president? No. But neither does he and at this point this election is more like choosing a plug for a sinking ship than a captain to get us into port before we go under. Question: How the HELL can she keep a straight face when discussing law and order a few minutes after essentially disavowing due process?
RESULT: Draw, with a slight advantage to Clinton.
Two more of these trainwrecks to go.
Get some popcorn… and Valium.