The Clinton versus Trump debate – No clear winner
by Naagesh Padmanaban on 29 Sep 2016 4 Comments

The first 2016 Presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump was held on Monday, September 26, at Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY. The debate, organized by the Commission on Presidential Debate, a non-partisan non-profit body, had the sports fraternity worried as the Monday night football viewership took a nosedive as Americans flipped channels to watch it. An estimated 81 million viewers were glued to their television sets, making it the most watched debate ever.

 

The debate also set the social media on fire. With over ten million tweets, it was the most tweeted debate ever. Americans and many elsewhere in the world were transfixed watching Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump spar at their first debate.

 

The cable TV networks had spent the entire week speculating and ratcheting up the excitement over the debate. They discussed at length how the candidates should prepare, what questions to expect and what to wear and so on. This drew sharp comments from some politicians. The indefatigable Bernie Sanders, Senator from Vermont and failed Democratic candidate, blasted the media and its coverage leading to the debate. He wanted the media to focus on the views of the candidates on burning issues – economy, jobs, living wage, healthcare, college tuition etc. rather than their personal styles and attires.

 

At the debate, the candidates were on their Sunday best – all dressed up and at their behavioral best and displaying dignified courtesies to each other. Many were indeed impressed to see a pleasant side of Trump.

 

The moderator - Lester Holt of NBC News – drew attention for different reasons. Holt, as a moderator, was at best, tepid. There was a robot-like quality about him – devoid of enthusiasm and passion in his questions and interventions. Like a strict disciplinarian, he admonished the audience for cheering and clapping for Trump, but said nothing when they cheered Clinton. 

 

Holt had six follow up questions for Trump, but none for Clinton. He tried to pin him down on the birther issue, but conveniently forgot to ask Clinton about the propriety of using a private email server or the hacking of DNC emails that exposed racism. Many Trump supporters tweeted later that the moderator deftly steered the debate away from issues, reinforcing an anti-Trump bias. It should be pointed out that the Trump campaign had raised doubts about his neutrality even before the debate.

 

Back at the debate, Trump had a lot of surprises up his sleeve. His responses were measured and controlled. Judging by the post-debate discussions, the pundits were indeed disappointed that they did not see the real maverick Trump. He seemed to be in full control in the early part of the debate when the discussion was on the Trade and Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) in particular. Clinton was clearly cornered for calling it the “gold standard” and later opposing it. However, she took control in the latter half of the debate by attacking Trump on his comments on women.

 

The pre-debate polls have given no easy pointer as to who the new President would be. Trump led in Colorado, Nevada and Florida – all key states. He has further consolidated his position in Ohio, a state which Hillary has not visited for a long time. While Trump leads in rural Maine, Clinton holds the rest of Maine. This even fight also played out in many other states. Clinton is way ahead in California, Oregon, and Washington where the lead is substantial. But the respective leads in individual states did not help either of them in the national tally where they are locked even.

 

The debate itself may not provide any significant bounce for either candidate. While the pundits have had a field day dissecting the performance, they, too, may not be able to sway the voter’s opinion one way or the other in this rather difficult race. Media analysts who have favored Clinton all along thought that her performance was the best and that she won the debate. Republican supporters, on the other hand, were convinced Trump’s performance in the first half cornered Clinton. They were all admiration for the restraint and statesman-like conduct of Trump. Even many Clinton admirers seem to be in agreement. The next debate could see the return of the true Trump.

 

But did Clinton really win the debate? Clinton’s supporters think she won. But the problem is that even if she had won the debate, this may not win her new supporters who will vote for her. The reason is her problems – email scandal, Clinton Foundation, hacked DNC email and other scandals – have weighed her down.

 

Further, her personal health issues will continue to dog her in the coming days. Most important, there is no indication that her debate performance has induced a change of heart in Sanders supporters who remain a considerable voting bloc.

 

Did Trump win the debate then? Most cable television networks don’t seem to think so. But some have pointed out that the Trump we saw at the debate was someone who was clearly exercising self-restraint and reluctant to go after Clinton. Americans have admired this change in him.

 

But the next debate promises to be a no-holds-barred debate where Trump’s plain speak and absence of political correctness will be evident. This will again play to his supporters and may even influence the fence sitters who do not want to support Clinton.

 

The debate outcome by itself is a non-issue. Recall how Obama did not do well against Mitt Romney in the debate, but bounced back quickly and the rest is history. It would be political naiveté to rule out Trump at this stage. In fact, the core issues that he stands for – immigration, unemployment and security – continue to resonate very well with most Americans and will be a huge positive for him. Clinton, on the other hand, continues to be perceived as ‘not trustworthy’ and her truckload of troubles will continue to haunt her.  

 

The big question, however, is how will the election go. Given that the pre-debate polls have shown that both are almost evenly placed – except that Trump has caught up with Clinton – the answer may be with undecided voters. Supporters of Bernie Sanders, Jill Stein and Johnson may hold the key and may tip the balance in favor of Trump.

 

However, even at this late stage – with just forty days to go for the big day – it may be too early to expect this as the contestants have more wooing to do. Clinton and Trump may have, at best, tied at the first debate. But the real winners were the political pundits and armchair experts on cable networks who had a hell of a day and laughed their way to the banks. The 2016 US Presidential election promises to be another close election. 

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I feel the same as Nagesh about this debate. As he states, the Trump-Hillary debate was a much anticipated, much hyperventilated about event. This is a historical election in many ways. As an expatriate living in the US for more than 20 years, I have observed many elections. This is perhaps the first time I am seeing a contest between an establishment candidate against an outsider. It was very clear that the mainstream media (MSM) was against Trump from the very beginning. We are seeing a phenomena here, as in India where the candidate despised by the MSM becomes the favorite of the SM and online crowd in general. Throughout the primaries, the MSM has been writing off Trump and he has been gaining steadily in support and convincingly beat all other candidates in the Primary. In spite of all the money power and media power Hillary has amassed, it is seen as a tight race. The debate hasn't changed that as the author states. Trump was very much controlled and subdued and not his usual flamboyant self. Many people see him in much better light after the debate. My assessment is that most Indians here will vote for Trump because Hillary is seen as pro Pakistan and anti India. This election is a referendum of the media as much as it is of the candidates. As in India, the media is much despised by the general public for good reasons. So the odds of a Trump victory seems good.
Guru Charan
September 29, 2016
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The Debates Are Totally Rigged To Favor Hillary Clinton, Process Is Completely Fixed Against Donald Trump???
http://stateofthenation2012.com/?p=50441
RR
September 29, 2016
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I think your opinion was fair, I think Clinton still has a good support base.
Tennischamp
September 30, 2016
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http://www.jimstone.is/pages/kmab7.html

Plausible: Hillary eye implant/data contact lenses

It is very plausible that Hillary was indeed wearing cutting edge contact lenses with data displays. Another thing that could have caused her eye anomalies/color changes during the debate would be an Ipad on her podium, and her eyes reflecting the color of whatever was on the screen.

At one point during the debate, Hillary can clearly be seen making a scrolling movement on the podium. At no time were we ever allowed to see what was actually on her podium. And it was obvious she cheated and the debate was rigged.

So as far as I see it, there are two things that could have caused her eye color changes during the debate, and both bust her totally. 1. The reflection of an Ipad screen, and 2. Seeing the back side of a display that was embedded either in her eye or on a contact lens. And I do not think that would be impossible to do nowadays and that is becoming a meme across many different web sites. If you want my opinion on all of it, it is, YES, it is possible. Was it done? Any way you slice it, her eye color changes prove something was amiss.

No matter what, they will rig it for Hillary because if Donald gets in, too many people will be going to jail, and too many will have to flee the country. CONSIDER THIS:Many many people have openly stated that if Donald gets in, they are leaving America. OBVIOUSLY THAT IS BECAUSE THEY KNOW DAMN WELL THEY ARE GUILTY OF HIGH CRIMES, AND THEY WILL BE JAILED IF THEY DO NOT GET OUT. FACT. SIMPLE OBVIOUS TRANSPARENT FACT.
So they are getting a grip on just how much they have to rig this upcoming election beforehand. And I believe that to get Hillary to win by 5 percent, a FULL HALF of the votes for Donald will have to be transferred to her, because it is obvious from the rallies and the post debate polls (before they were rigged) that Hillary really is in the sub 10 percent zone. They rescued some of the polls later (even the one on Drudge) but the truth was obvious early on, Hillary does not have more than 10 percent actual support.

Hillary is the life boat for the worlds most wealthy and powerful criminals. Even the director of the FBI let her go due to a multi million dollar payout (somewhere around $6 million) from the Clinton foundation. All Hillary is doing to stay free is handing out cash, killing people, and blackmailing people. That is how the Clinton machine operates and if the elite cannot prevent their their "lifeboat" from sinking, they are going down with the ship. IT IS RIG IT AT ALL COSTS OR LOSE IT ALL, what do you think they are going to do?

TRUMP HAD A DEFECTIVE MIC
Now I know why Trump was visibly disturbed - Over the TV, the microphones all appeared to work. But at the debate itself, over those speakers, they were cutting his voice off, adding distortion, etc and that makes it virtually impossible to speak. THEY SCREWED WITH HIM BADLY and he still won, HANDS DOWN.
The scamming MSM knows that everyone heard him come across fine on the TV, and that they can screw with him with this topic because no one who watched TV could hear what was going on at the actual debate. But from Trump's perspective at the debate, they put him through HELL. That is the type of thing you get from the lowest banana republics. But what would one expect from the tribe, which owns the media? You don't expect fair, do you?

It looks like Hillary had a hidden mic
Yep, it just gets better and better - Hillary may have been getting her responses sent to her over a mic box she was wearing on her back. This is going viral on the web now, she got BUSTED. And with a moderator on her side, giving her unfair time, plus a mic box, plus Trump getting messed with, Trump still bashed her into the gutter in the online polls. Way to go.

And I'd like to point something out here - to excuse off Hillary losing, the time magazine poll (which claims Hillary supporters are more educated, more connected, more social (and therefore have more media communication devices) is implying that Trump is winning because the simple deplorables communicate more, have more devices, etc and that they are stacking the results. So we have a bit of cognitive dissidence here, where the under class is more social and more connected? What a laugh!

I am not surprised by this Drudge poll, but Trump could have done better. He obviously was not well versed in going up against a scamming political velociraptor. I wonder how they kept Hillary glued together (if it was her) who knows. My guess is that she was VERY drugged. Held together too well as far as I see it.
Jim Stone
September 30, 2016
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