Come join me on Twitter tonight, if you’re so inclined. Just click on the image anytime after 9 p.m…
I have been dreading this presidential debate tonight, which I think may be the most hyped that I can recall.
Perhaps something good will come of it. Perhaps Trump will do or say something that causes him to lose all his support, and the nation will be saved. What that would be, though, I have no idea. The bigger jerk he makes of himself, the more they love him.
Or maybe…
No, that’s the only thing good I can see coming out of it. I honestly can’t imagine anything in particular that Hillary Clinton can do to help herself in this debate, against such a damage-proof opponent. About all she can do is hurt herself, and there are plenty of ways she could do that. I wouldn’t be in her shoes for anything.
But I’m less concerned about her, and truly concerned about the nation.
I’ll be there on Twitter tonight, commenting away. Come join me if you’re so inclined. The torment begins at 9 p.m., pretty much anywhere you care to look…
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Posting this reminds me of my Hillary Clinton dream I had last night — or rather, early this morning, just before waking up.
It was very… confusing.
Maybe I’ll do a separate post about it. In fact, while we await tonight’s misery, I think I will…
Brad, it is a blood sport, and like most other sports, it has devolved into entertainment.
And who entertains us the best?
I would encourage everyone to post their reviews of the debate without engaging social media our listening to spin masters after. Can you do it? Can you from an opinion outside your own echo chamber? Better yet, listen to it and don’t watch. Judge the words, not the actors.
Too many journalists are live tweeting the debate. It’s the “all about me” culture. Looking for the glory of getting retweeted or mentioned.
Anyway, unless Hillary wipes the floor with Trump (which I’m sure Rachel Maddow has already written her copy to say), she loses. A tie is a loss. Anything but total domination means people will view them as equals.
Oliver Sachs had fascinating things to say about people listening to politicians in his book “the man who mistook his wife for a hat.” People with different traumatic brain injuries responded very differently, depending on whether their emotional or analytical abilities were intact. It would be fascinating to hear that kind of take on tonight’s event.
I’m thinking she wins it if she does the same sort of “there you go again” she did to Draco Malfoy’s Benghazi witch hunt panel….
Immediate reaction – did not read any social media during the debate. It was a tie. Trump had his moments but nothing outrageous. Lester Holt was far tougher on Trump than Hillary (no followup on the Blumenthal birther situation). Too much time wasted on the birth certificate and whether Trump is a racist or not. Hillary promised the world and will deliver nothing. She was very scripted. Her Trumped Up Trickle Down catchphrase was a dud. I doubt Trump will drop any in the polls.
And he was smart to focus a lot on jobs in Rust Belt states. If he can win Ohio and Pennsylvania, he can win. Plus his endorsements from cops, ICE, border patrol, etc. mean something to some people,
And Trump deflected the tax returns question pretty well by referencing Hillary’s emails. Lester Holt ignored that one too.
Overall Reaction: Trump did fairly well in the first bit, mainly because he kept the focus on Hillary being the status quo, and he being a change. That’s his best argument, and when that’s the way the choice is framed, he does well.
As the debate went on, he got progressively worse and worse. I thought he handled his tax return issue poorly, failed to prosecute much of a case on Hillary on her problems, and mostly, rambled incoherently. When it came to foreign policy, he went to back to never-never land with the “take the oil” idea.
Hillary did exactly what I thought she would do. She stayed to her modules, baited Trump a bit, and basically sat back and watched him do his thing.
I thought her best moment of the night was right after Trump talked about renegotiating all our alliances with our allies. She looked into the camera and addressed our allies directly, and reassured them that the US would live up to its commitments.
Overall, I don’t think the debate did much, if anything, to change the race. If you were for Hillary before, you’re still there. If you were for Trump before, you’re still there. I doubt there will be much movement in the polls, as both candidates did what they normally do.
P.S. Funniest part of the night was the 400 lb. hacker comment by Trump. He’s clearly not seeking the obese hacker vote.
The 400 lb. hackers around the country will already have voted several times.
Whatever Hillary said about NATO, she dodged the basic question Trump has put out there: if we are expected to be part of NATO, shouldn’t every country contribute their fair share? If they know we’ll provide the support without paying, what’s the incentive to pay? His other point that will resonate is when he talks about the money we’ve spent outside the U.S. while our infrastructure is falling apart in some areas.
I had a hang-over this morning.
That is all.
Y’all, I’ve done a separate post-debate post…