OCTOBER 11, 2016
Photo: AP
Those were probably the most surreal 90 minutes of political television that I’ve ever seen.
I suspected that this would be a circus when, one hour before the start of the debate, Trump, instead of doing final debate prep, announced that he was holding a “press conference” and brought out four women who have accused Bill Clinton of acts from sexual harassment to out-and-out rape, though no evidence has ever been found to verify the rape claim. Trump had telegraphed this attack on Bill Clinton, but by actually bringing the women to the debate site, he provided that extra bit of theater that Trump loves so much.
If Trump meant this stunt to set a tone, it certainly did, but perhaps not in the way that he intended.
The most striking thing about the opening of the debate was that there was no handshake between Trump and Hillary Clinton. I’ve never seen that in a debate, but because neither one of them made an awkward attempt to do it, I suspect that it was agreed upon beforehand.
Moderators Anderson Cooper of CNN and Martha Raddatz of ABC News quickly addressed the elephant in the room, that explosive 2005 tape from the show “Access Hollywood” where Trump and host Billy Bush (both wearing live mics) discussed former “Access” anchor and current “ET” host Nancy O’Dell, whom Trump said he “did try and fuck,” but he failed, adding that she was married. When Bush seemed shocked, Trump boasted that “when you’re a star, they let you do anything…Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.” (I use the real language, only because The New York Times did the same on their front page, and they determine all the news that’s fit to print.)
When asked about it, Trump dismissed it as “locker room talk” and then quickly pivoted to talk about ISIS. Huh…wha? I can see him wanting to drop the subject, but switching to ISIS? It was perhaps the clumsiest pivot that I’ve ever seen in a debate. But when pressed, Trump claimed that he never forced unwanted kisses on a woman, a claim, I suspect, that will come back to haunt him.
Let’s hit some of the high points of the debate.
Jail — Trump said that if he becomes President, Clinton would find herself in jail. What is this, Uganda? I know that Trump has a history of cozying up to dictators, but throwing your political opponents in jail is something that’s only done in third-world countries, not the United States. I had thought that Trump wanted to be a Putin-like dictator, but maybe he’d prefer to model himself after a strongman running a banana republic.
E-mails — When asked why she deleted over 30,000 e-mails, Clinton danced around it again. She’s got to find a better answer.
Syria — When asked about Syria and the humanitarian crisis in the city of Aleppo, Trump seemed baffled, much like Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson (who asked on national TV “What is Aleppo?”). Trump brushed off the humanitarian crisis, saying that Aleppo had already fallen and quickly changed the subject to Mosul, Iraq (huh…wha?). It was as if Iraq was the only country he studied for the exam. The lack of knowledge (and interest) the man has in foreign affairs is staggering. If he doesn’t own a property in a country, it seems he could give a damn about it.
WikiLeaks — The leakers’ most recent document dump revealed content of Clinton’s paid speeches to Wall Street corporations, something the GOP has wanted to see for months. She was asked about a passage where she said that politicians say what they truly feel behind closed doors and something else to the general public. Clinton gave a terrible answer, an obscure story about Abraham Lincoln and the 13th amendment. What she should have used was some variation of how Chuck Todd dealt with it on Sunday’s “Meet the Press” — when Rudy Giuliani tried to use the private/public argument against Clinton, Todd argued that by Giuliani’s reasoning, what Trump said privately on that bus about grabbing women’s genitalia must be how Trump truly feels. Rudy was stumped.
Hate — At one point, out of the blue, Trump says that Clinton has “tremendous hate in her heart.” Seriously, what kind of person would say that about another human being?
Sniffles — Trump’s sniffles are back. I’m mentioning it only because when Alec Baldwin does it on this week’s “SNL,” he’s not exaggerating.
Visuals — The candidates couldn’t have chosen a more different approach in style. Taking a cue from her husband’s playbook, Clinton would approach each questioner, answer them by name and sometimes ask a personal question (“Are you a teacher?” she asked one.) Trump, on the other hand, rarely even looked at the questioners, much less approached them. Whenever Trump spoke, Clinton remained in her seat calmly. When it was Clinton’s turn to answer, Trump would prowl the stage like a stalker, often invading her personal space, and at one time getting so close behind her that he could breathe down her neck. (The photo above doesn’t do it justice.) Just awful.
Mike Pence — Pence, a devout Christian, was said by many on Sunday to be considering leaving the ticket over Trump’s abusive language about women. That undoubtedly got back to Trump, because when he was asked about his running mate’s position of advocating possible military force against Syria, Trump icily replied, “He and I haven’t spoken, and he and I disagree.” Period. Ouch.
Final Question — An audience member asks if each candidate would name one positive thing they can say about the other. Clinton says that she admires Trump’s kids, calling them incredibly able and devoted. Trump says that he thinks that Clinton fights hard, she doesn’t quit, and she doesn’t give up, probably the highest compliment that Trump could give. It was a lovely moment, like a cherry on top of a shit sundae.
How Did They Do? — As bad as Trump’s performance was, he was more prepped than he was in Debate #1, and he took the time to throw out those buzzword topics (E-mails! Benghazi! Bill Clinton!) that he neglected last time, so I think he shored up support from his worried base and stopped the hemorrhaging of elected GOP officials who announced over the weekend that they cannot support him. But it’s not likely he gained a single vote that he didn’t already have. For her part, Clinton’s more-laid back performance was a disappointment for some who missed the firebrand she was last time. I got the feeling that it was part of a larger strategy, whether it was rope-a-dope or avoiding being a fact-checker on all of Trump’s misstatements.
Clinton needn’t have worried, however, because on Monday, the NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll taken after the “Access Hollywood” tape but before the debate was released, showing Clinton leaping to a national double-digit lead over Trump (46%-35%) in a four-person race, the first time that has happened in this campaign.
Just 28 days until the election, and it can’t come soon enough. The final presidential debate will be held next Wednesday, October 19, from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and anchored by Fox News’ Chris Wallace. Be there or be square!
