With a few weeks left in the election, it should be obvious the magnitude of Wednesday’s third and final presidential showdown.
The University of Nevada, Las Vegas must have been grateful to spend such an auspicious and pleasant final evening with two of the most respected and lovable characters in America.
Donald Trump didn’t have the sniffles this time, nor could he walk around and awkwardly glare at folks in the audience. Hillary Clinton looked youthful and excited for her final pounce session and confidently remembered her lines.
It’s a shame for conservative voters that Trump neglected to study for this final, perhaps assuming the Fox News setting would feed him crackers and tea while Hillary was speaking.
Neither were served.
Hillary looked like she pulled a few all-nighters earlier in the week, but, taking her campaign manager’s directions seriously, scored eight hours the past few nights.
That was important.
Chris Wallace came in prepared. He hit hard with questions that neither candidate could simply brush aside.
Plunging in, Wallace asked the candidates about the Supreme Court. He opened by having them give broad remarks about the power of the position, then meandered into fine-tuned questioning of the Second Amendment and Roe v. Wade.
Lacking conservative intelligence, Trump had nothing of substance to say about what it means to be a conservative justice, nor how sharp minds of that nature could help mold America back into something great again.
If a Republican leader cannot conjure a coherent set of minute-long talking points about why conservative justices are important or how progressive liberals that Hillary will appoint are harmful, then why is he appearing on stage representing that party?
Hillary at least remembered to skim through the Democratic playbook and remind voters of how the constitution should be about the people and not corporations. People will cling on to that. It’s candy talk.
This was exemplified further with the Roe v. Wade discussion, which made Trump look like a villain to every woman in America. He did not deny that he would want justices to denounce the law. That’s a huge statement.
Any half-intelligent conservative would have spun that into a state’s rights issue and talked about the millions of American women who oppose abortions for various reasons. Whether you agree or disagree with him, at least people could have heard an argument.
It was Hillary’s sly smile after segments like these that dominated the debate.
Although she may still have electric circuit breakers piloting her face, at least she didn’t look smug and agitated like Trump the whole night.
The Donald didn’t even have any one-liners worth mentioning. That was his strength and he failed.
Wallace kept him in check repeatedly, and perhaps Trump resented that. He resents losing, and Hillary pummeled him for calling the election rigged and then jabbing the knife deeper by reminding voters of his pouting after he failed to receive an Emmy for his show.
“It should have won” might have been the funniest thing he said all night.
Luckily for Trump, many of his supporters will not be swayed by his less-than-stellar outing. He wasn’t despicably bad and he didn’t make a fool of himself.
Hillary offered little substance to her own claims of how the government will step into every facets of our lives and regulate things until they are “equal and fair.” Not that she had to in order to win the debate.
It was more of a disappointment to conservatives than an all-out win by HRC.
One would think that Trump would learn from the last two debates and maybe rehearse a conservative catch phrase or two.
Alas, he stuck to his script of being an unpolished, business maverick who hoped to win through angry discussions and one-liners. This worked remarkably well in round two, but not round three, of the debate trifecta.
Wallace crafted a debate structure that challenged both sides. The specifics-style questioning, adjunct with a commanding control of speaking lengths, favored the experienced Hillary.
Every conservative or libertarian in this country should be disappointed by the outcome and with the Republican Party.
Most polls are favoring a Democratic presidency and this debate certainly won’t change those statistics.
A sorry effort by Donald Trump.
While both are despicable candidates and a total embarrassment to our political parties and election process, don’t be so quick to count Donald Trump out. It would be premature to suggest the victory party commence immediately based on that debate.
WikiLeaks could still turn the HRC ship into the Titanic.
While you are not old enough to remember the over confidence of the Democrats in Dewey vs. Truman, hopefully it has been covered in your classes. The Democrats, and most of the country, were absolutely convinced that Harry Truman would lose the election. There is a valuable lesson here.
There may also be a Brexit effect playing out behind the scenes here. The negative discourse associated with both parties and both candidates, have many people reluctant to engage in political discussions that are in the gutter and heading for the sewer. They will make their feelings known on November 8, and the results may not be what the main stream media and the Democratic machine are telling you what it will be.
I enjoy your well written and thought provoking commentary Andrew, keep raising the issues that encourage people to open their minds and study the issues, regardless of which side of the see-saw you may be sitting on.