Countdown to Extinction: The 2016 Presidential Election

[San Antone]

Disaster might be an exaggeration, but while I don't think Clinton "won" the debate (except by default), he did lose it.  He missed too many opportunities. 

[Karl Henning]

Disaster might be an exaggeration, but while I don't think Clinton "won" the debate (except by default), he did lose it.  He missed too many opportunities. 

Sure.

[Brian]

Trump got clobbered. He has a serial inability to recognize when he is being baited; thus highly damaging (paraphrased, but still highly damaging) exchanges like this:

Hillary: Trump was racist in the 70s!
Trump: Sure, but EVERYBODY was!

Hillary: Trump pays no taxes!
Trump: That's just smart!

Hillary: Trump calls women slobs and pigs!
Trump: Yeah, but Rosie O'Donnell is totally a pig!

He had no counterattacks ready at all - indeed, the one time he brought up her emails, he immediately tangented away from her emails to rant about LaGuardia and JFK airports!

I actually liked Hillary more in this debate than I did before; maybe that comes from having terribly low expectations, but she was calm and collected and disproved that old saw about arguing with idiots by mostly staying out of the way and letting him hog the spotlight. When she got the spotlight back, she deliberately tried to be as un-Trumpish as possible. The talking points like "Trumped-up trickle down" were silly, but the stamina response and the temperament response were on-point.

Where's that pumpkin pie?

He made this recipe and it was GREAT. Serve hot.
http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1015413-brandied-pumpkin-pie

[Karl Henning]

He is, like, so Presidential!

http://www.youtube.com/v/U8ZM58O_gBo

America will be so great when El Tupé runs the country the way he has done business!

[San Antone]

I suspect Hillary will get a small bounce in the polls, but then things will settle down again to essentially a tied race.  The fact that Hillary cannot put this race away against someone as flawed as Trump speaks to the inherent weakness of her campaign.

[PerfectWagnerite]

I suspect Hillary will get a small bounce in the polls, but then things will settle down again to essentially a tied race.  The fact that Hillary cannot put this race away against someone as flawed as Trump speaks to the inherent weakness of her campaign.

Weakness yes. Does not take away from the fact that Trump was a blabbering mess for 2 hrs. He reminds of of Chris Farley's character in the movie Tommy Boy where he set a potential customer's toy car on fire. Think about it: in 150 yrs time we have gone from presidents that are scholars who can pen something as terse as poignant as the Gettysburg Address to this knuckehead who can't put two coherent sentences together.

Anyway the whole thing was touch to watch and not nearly as entertaining as I though.

[San Antone]

Anyway the whole thing was touch to watch and not nearly as entertaining as I though.

+1

[Brian]

Anyway the whole thing was touch to watch and not nearly as entertaining as I though.

I disagree, but then, I'd had 5 glasses of wine.

[Mirror Image]

I suspect Hillary will get a small bounce in the polls, but then things will settle down again to essentially a tied race.  The fact that Hillary cannot put this race away against someone as flawed as Trump speaks to the inherent weakness of her campaign.

But if a presidential candidate is not up to snuff, which El Tupé is not, the weaknesses in her campaign will subside. Anyway, as long as she runs a solid campaign and doesn't take any missteps or say something incredibly damaging, she'll be fine I think. El Tupé will continue to run his mouth and only dig his hole deeper. His temper will get the better of him just like it did in last night's debate.

[Karl Henning]

I suspect Hillary will get a small bounce in the polls, but then things will settle down again to essentially a tied race.  The fact that Hillary cannot put this race away against someone as flawed as Trump speaks to the inherent weakness of her campaign.

You see, I should have said, the GOP managed to nominate the one candidate against whom Clinton can win.

Your view of the poll swing can be argued, to be sure.  Or, it could be argued that the post-debate rise is the correction.

I guess we shall see.

[Karl Henning]

But if a presidential candidate is not up to snuff, which El Tupé is not, the weaknesses in her campaign will subside. Anyway, as long as she runs a solid campaign and doesn't take any missteps or say something incredibly damaging, she'll be fine I think. El Tupé will continue to run his mouth and only dig his hole deeper. His temper will get the better of him just like it did in last night's debate.

I am apt to agree.  He will "be himself," and this will repel anyone who is not already determined to vote for "anyone but Clinton."

Especially if his post-mortem take on last night really is, "I ought to have hit Hillary harder."  That won't sell for anyone who isn't already in the tank with him.  And, of course, there he is, enormously misdiagnosing his flaccid performance last night.

[Mirror Image]

I am apt to agree.  He will "be himself," and this will repel anyone who is not already determined to vote for "anyone but Clinton."

Especially if his post-mortem take on last night really is, "I ought to have hit Hillary harder."  That won't sell for anyone who isn't already in the tank with him.  And, of course, there he is, enormously misdiagnosing his flaccid performance last night.

In complete agreement.

[San Antone]

Yes, we shall see.  But I suspect Trump will be better at president than candidate.   The specter of Hillary Clinton as president, who will probably turn out to be more conniving and grasping of power than Nixon, is so scary for enough people I think Trump will squeak out a victory despite his inexperience as professional politician.

[Karl Henning]

Yes, we shall see.  But I suspect Trump will be better at president than candidate.

Such optimism is pretty to see.

[San Antone]

Before I go, I will leave you with this reportage:

Letosky entered the evening undecided in a town that is heavily Democratic in registration. Her sister and father are on opposite sides of the political aisle. Donald "Trump had the upper hand this evening," she said, citing his command of the back-and-forth between him and Hillary Clinton.

Reed, 35, is a registered Democrat and small businessman. "By the end of the debate, Clinton never said a thing to persuade me that she had anything to offer me or my family or my community," he said, sitting at the same bar that has boasted local icons as regulars, such as the late Fred Rogers, and Arnold Palmer, who had his own stash of PM Whiskey hidden behind newer bottles of whiskey for his regular visits.

"Have to say Trump had the edge this evening, he came out swinging but also talked about specifics on jobs and the economy," Reed said.

Reed said Clinton came across as either smug or as though she was reading her résumé, adding there was nothing on her résumé that touched on his life. "I am a small businessman, a farmer, come from a long line of farmers and coal miners. The policies she talked about tonight ultimately either hurt me or ignore me," he said.

[drogulus]

      Trump managed to slither under the bar of the lowest expectations in major debate history. How he do that??

      By contrast HRC succeeded in showing just how good a normal, boring, predictable, experienced mainstream professional can be.

      HRC is certainly a flawed candidate, though she's a better campaigner than she was against Obama. This is her second Presidential run, and I think it shows.

[snyprrr]

Weiner/Holder 2016

[André]

The NY Post reportage is illuminating. On the same page, there is this (also illuminating) column by John Podhoretz:

http://nypost.com/2016/09/27/trumps-debate-incompetence-a-slap-in-the-face-to-his-supporters/

[drogulus]

     One thing the debate revealed, that while Trump is not stupid, he utterly lacks discipline. This was his moment to show he could rise above his flaws, and instead expert provocation by Mrs. Beast caused him to come unhinged on cue. It was as though he was making her case for her, as she knew he would. Sad!

[Karl Henning]

Before I go, I will leave you with this reportage:

Dang.  So Krauthammer was overly cautious in calling it a draw!