Policy, Debate, Taxes, Presidential Candidates

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For those voters just now turning their attention to the 2016 presidential election, the first presidential debate presented a choice of the lesser of two evils: a pathological liar and an established politician. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, two of the most disliked presidential candidates in American history, squared off for 90 minutes at 9pm EST Monday night at New Jersey’s Hofstra University. With months of back-and-forth between the two candidates, record numbers of viewers tuned in to watch them finally face each other in person, with 84 million watching on TV and an estimated 35 million watching online.

Trump, perhaps benefitting from lowered expectations, survived without any egregious errors while still failing to use the presidential debate to establish himself as a more polished candidate since the Republican primaries. Trump was unable to demonstrate a refined mastery of policy issues or the ability to maintain his composure over a long period of time or, for that matter, effectively prepare for a high-stakes debate. Trump’s affect was serious and at sometimes angry and his continuous interruptions of Clinton, while perhaps exciting his base supporters, alienated those looking for a more presidential version of the candidate. In contrast, Clinton smiled through much of the 90 minutes and responded to Trump’s interruptions with a calm and condescending tone. She had clear and complete answers to all questions and attacks, prompting accusations from the Trump camp that she came into the debate too scripted.
And, as expected, the candidates attacked each other mercilessly. Clinton immediately started in on Trump’s plan for the economy which she called a “trumped up” version of the failed trickle-down policy which gives large tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans. Additionally, even before the start of the general election, Clinton has been painting Trump and many of his supporters as racists and misogynists, among other names, a line of attack that never seems to run out of new material. To this end, Clinton brought up Trump’s leadership role in the so-called “birther movement” which questioned the legitimacy of Barack Obama’s presidency, an accusation which many feel is based in racism against America’s first black president. Clinton also challenged Trump on his image as a self-made billionaire after getting his start with about $14 million from his father, as well as his financial dealings, many of which are still coming to light.

Trump, for his part, lobbed his own attacks at Clinton, dredging up the Benghazi attacks and Clinton’s personal server controversy that will seemingly never fade away. When Trump was asked to elaborate on his comment that Clinton doesn’t have a “presidential look”, he swerved into attacking Clinton for her stamina following the fainting spell she suffered a few weeks ago due to complications from pneumonia as well as the several days break she took from campaigning to prepare for the debate. Probably the most substantive hit he landed on Clinton was a criticism of her support for international trade deals, including her avid support of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) which Trump argues would hurt middle class Americans.

The crowd at times broke protocol and erupted in support of both candidates. The first such moment occurred when Trump pledged to release his tax returns when Clinton released her emails while others applauded Clinton’s meme-worthy shimmy in response to Trump’s attacks on her temperament. Lester Holt seldom interrupted or fact-checked the candidates, except when Trump claimed to have never supported the war in Iraq despite evidence from several interviews and when he talked about instituting stop-and-frisk policing which Holt added had been found to be unconstitutional. This push-back prompted the Trump campaign to dismiss Holt’s performance even though Trump stated his approval of how Holt handled the debate immediately afterwards.

It was a disappointment for many that third party candidates were not included in the debate to challenge Trump and Clinton who have some of the lowest approval ratings of any presidential candidates. Green party candidate Jill Stein was peacefully escorted off of the Hofstra campus for attempting to attend the debate while Gary Johnson, who was the most likely of the two to reach the required 15% in the polls needed to participate in the debate, suffered a recent drop in polling numbers after he appeared to not recognize the name “Aleppo”, the center of the Syrian refugee crisis.

Several post-debate polls show Clinton winning the debate around 60% to Trump’s 30%. Clinton has been taking a long victory lap over social media and at campaign stops over the last few days. Following Clinton’s mention of the issue during the presidential debate, her campaign is circulating a video from 1996 that shows Trump’s repeated humiliation of the winner of his Miss Universe contest after she gained some weight. The subject was widely covered by major news outlets and will no doubt illuminate Trump’s relationship with women and women’s issues as the race progresses. For their part, Trump and his campaign have simultaneously claimed victory and listed excuses for Trump’s poor performance, citing a faulty microphone and not enough hard questions aimed at Clinton from the moderator. Trump continues to tout polls that were conducted using irresponsible methods.

All told, the presidential debate lived up to the hype as an entertaining battle where voters were able to witness the candidates’ true colors. While Clinton’s lead was steadily shrinking in the weeks prior to the debate, we will have to wait and see if new polls will reflect her win. You can watch the debate here or catch the next two on October 9 and October 19 as well as the Vice Presidential debate between Mike Pence and Tim Kaine on October 4.

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