For months, Donald Trump had made a name from his tantrums and verbal attacks at Hilary Clinton and others. He had stirred up a lot of controversies with his comments on several issues like when immigration and race. Indeed it was believed that Trump would put up an impressive outing in the debate; an opportunity to come face to face with his arch rival and totally blast her. I guess that belief was wrong. What happened to the king of hate speeches?
Hilary came prepared. What was a bit surprising was that Trump was the one on the defensive while Hilary was on the offensive. Even when Trump tried attacking her, she defended herself and even reversed it.
She blasted Trump for being a racist and a sexist, accusations he found difficult denying. Trump tried calling Clinton a person who talks without action. That was defended by Clinton who stated that “Words matter when you run for president, and they really do matter when you are president”. To this, Trump had no reply. Trump brought up Clinton's plan to defeat ISIL which was posted on her website, stating that she was revealing her plan to the enemy. This was defended once again and even reversed by Clinton by stating that at least she has a plan (unlike Trump who has said he has a "secret" plan). Clinton fired at Trump for not showing his returns. Trump's reply that he would show his tax returns only after Clinton released the 33000 emails deleted from her private home server could not save him. She still fired at him on the issue of his twmax returns, stating different possibilities including the possibility that he is not as rich as he claims or that he hadn't paid his income taxes for years now. To that possibility, Trump replied that if so, then he is smart. That was an awful response. It is tantamount to praising criminals who are not caught. She also accused him of “stiffing thousands” of contractors by declaring bankruptcy as a businessman. An allegation he couldn't deny. When Trump threw jabs at her for lacking stamina, she reminded him of the 112 countries she visited as Secretary of state and the 11 hours she spent testifying before a Congressional committee.
Trump became contradictory; denying that he earlier on supported the war in Iraq (whereas he did) and denying ever calling climate change a hoax. He was obviously feeling the heat and his past had come back to haunt him. Worse still were his non sequitur statements like saying his 10 year old son is good with computers when asked about US Cyber security weaknesses (how does it relate?). These and more were discussed at the debate.
His major jab at Clinton was for supporting the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the
landmark 12-nation trade pact brokered under the Obama administration. However, he displayed his aggressive nature by interrupting her severally when she wanted to say that she no longer supported it. She kept her cool through out the debate. It was not the same for Trump.
Trump however made some points on economy and business earlier on. It seems this debate was less about what the candidates had to offer and more about throwing jabs at one another. Trump appears to have the capacity to verbally attack persons when they are not with him. When he comes face to face with them, its a different ballgame; this debate has shown that. Clinton reportedly prepared for this debate unlike Trump. She displayed a grasp of the workings of the government. That explains why she outshone him. It is equally a minus for Trump who, as a candidate for one of the world's toughest jobs, should be prepared at all times. The CNN/ORC poll claims that 62% of those asked said Clinton won the debate while 27% believe Trump won. He has always had a way of persevering in spite of his poor performances. Its still Americans to decide. However, if that debate was to be used as the basis for voting, it is doubtful if Trump would stand a chance.
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