Analysis: In debate, Clinton was prepared, Trump was Trump

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Analysis: In debate, Clinton was prepared, Trump was Trump

By KATHLEEN HENNESSEY

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — She was at her best. He was not at his worst.

 

Weeks of Super Bowl-style hype aside, Monday night's 90 minutes of heated clashes between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump probably didn't shove many undecided voters off the fence.

 

If Clinton aimed to push her famously unpredictable opponent into a made-for-sharing disqualifying moment, she didn't quite get there. If Trump set out to show America — particularly women — he's completed the transformation from cartoonish pop culture staple to leader worthy of the Oval Office, he still has a way to go.

 

But in a debate full of feisty exchanges and a personal scuffle or two, the candidates demonstrated clearly how they've gotten this far. Clinton was polished, prepared and proud of it —a Hermione Granger at a podium. She came with sharp and practiced answers, most notably a newly direct one for the questions about her private email server that has dogged her candidacy for months. She grinned broadly and calmly, even when under fire, and she mocked but only gently the man she called "Donald."

 

"I think Donald just criticized me for preparing for this debate. And, yes, I did," Clinton said. "And you know what else I prepared for? I prepared to be president. And I think that's a good thing."

 

Trump addressed his opponent as "Secretary Clinton" — even asking for her approval for the term — but by the end he called her "Hillary."

 

The care he took with her title was a reminder of the voters he was aiming to win over. Women, particularly college-educated white women, are the key to Trump turning his current burst of momentum into a sustained surge that lasts until Election Day. The 70-year-old businessman has struggled to persuade women, even those with doubts about the first woman president, to get behind his bid, thanks in part to his performances in past debates, which led to cringe-worthy challenges to moderator Megyn Kelly or opponent Carly Fiorina.

 

Trump avoided another jaw-dropping, decorum-busting moment on Monday night, but it was hard to see that he did much to soften his image. He repeatedly and aggressively interrupted Clinton to rebut or deny her charges, at times talking over her or interrupting. When asked by moderator Lester Holt to explain a previous comment that Clinton doesn't have a "presidential look," Trump simply repeated the comment.

"She doesn't have the look. She doesn't have the stamina," he said. "To be president of this country, you need tremendous stamina."

 

Clinton came prepared to pounce: "Well, as soon as he travels to 112 countries and negotiates a peace deal, a cease-fire, a release of dissidents, an opening of new opportunities in nations around the world, or even spends 11 hours testifying in front of a congressional committee, he can talk to me about stamina."

 

As the debate went on, Clinton seemed to gain confidence and a better sense of timing. When Trump concluded a long and tangled defense of his years-long campaign to challenge President Barack Obama's citizenship, she paused for a moment to let Trump's words sink in.

"Well, just listen to what you heard," she said.

 

Trump, too, had his moments.

 

He delivered a searing indictment of Clinton as just another insider proposing the same-old solutions for an economy on the brink of "crashing down." The riff was a potent reminder of why his candidacy has become a vehicle for the alienated white Americans feeling pinched by the economy and forces of globalization.

 

"Typical politician. All talk, no action. Sounds good, doesn't work. Never going to happen," he said, encapsulating the core message of his campaign.

 

He showed Clinton remains vulnerable on her support for trade deals, forcing Clinton in her clearest fib of the night when she denied having called the Trans-Pacific Partnership the "gold standard" of trade agreements and claimed she merely said she hoped it would be a good deal.

 

But Trump missed opportunities to dive into Clinton's other vulnerabilities. She was also able to make swift work of her email scandal, saying simply "It was a mistake and I take responsibility for that."

 

"That's for sure," Trump interjected, but left it there.

 

The Republican didn't raise Clinton's description of half of his supporters as "deplorables" or the Clinton Foundation and its donor network.

That left Clinton largely free to play the prepared grown up to Trump's agitated upstart.

 

Even Trump granted her that:

"She's got experience," he said. "But it's bad experience. And this country can't afford to have another four years of that kind of experience."

___

EDITOR'S NOTE: Kathleen Hennessey covers the White House and politics for The Associated Press

 

-- © Associated Press 2016-09-27

[rijb]

I'd like to see both of them in a debate with the top 5 foreign leaders.  

[Jingthing]

3 minutes ago, rijb said:

I'd like to see both of them in a debate with the top 5 foreign leaders.  

That's not how it works. 

[rijb]

1 minute ago, Jingthing said:

That's not how it works. 

 

I know.  But, it would be fun.  And informative.

[Travel2003]

In debate, Clinton was prepared, Trump was Trump ....

 

Pretty much what most expected from a seasoned politician and a loud populist.

 

 

[JHolmesJr]

Crooked Hillary's 30 years of polished lying and slithering experience gave her the edge but Mr Trump got some crippling body blows in.

 

It was amazing when she claimed she had been thinking about how to create better paying jobs for americans and Trump said…."for 30 years?"

 

Crooked got owned on that one….and a few other sticky points.

 

All in all, Trump held up well…..he kept his calm generally…made some solid points….his plan always was to study her in the first debate….the second one will be even better for him.

 

 

[Jingthing]

2 minutes ago, Travel2003 said:

In debate, Clinton was prepared, Trump was Trump ....

 

Pretty much what most expected from a seasoned politician and a loud populist.

 

 

Not really. The hopeful expectation of the trumpeters is that he would remain disciplined, calm, and not allow himself to have revealing emotional reactions to Clinton's predictable prods. That would have given a superficial appearance of being presidential. But he FAILED in doing that big time. 

[Jingthing]

3 minutes ago, JHolmesJr said:

Crooked Hillary's 30 years of polished lying and slithering experience gave her the edge but Mr Trump got some crippling body blows in.

 

It was amazing when she claimed she had been thinking about how to create better paying jobs for americans and Trump said…."for 30 years?"

 

Crooked got owned on that one….and a few other sticky points.

 

All in all, Trump held up well…..he kept his calm generally…made some solid points….his plan always was to study her in the first debate….the second one will be even better for him.

 

 

He didn't prepare for this one.

Insiders say preparation is just not his bag, even IF he was capable. But he's not even capable. He has no attention span. Why any rational person could want such a person for president I'll never understand. 

[Travel2003]

1 minute ago, Jingthing said:

Not really. The hopeful expectation of the trumpeters is that he would remain disciplined, calm, and not allow himself to have revealing emotional reactions to Clinton's predictable prods. That would have given a superficial appearance of being presidential. But he FAILED in doing that big time. 

I see you point, but what the "trumpeters" hope, is a bit unrealistic.

;-)

 

Think Clinton hit the nail on the head some time ago when she said, one little "tweet" is all you need to bait Trump.

[johnnywishbone]

People like the rabid attack dog Trump more than scumbag crooked Hillary


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SoiBiker]

1 hour ago, JHolmesJr said:

All in all, Trump held up well…..he kept his calm generally…made some solid points….his plan always was to study her in the first debate….the second one will be even better for him.

 

 

 

I think you must have watched a different debate to the one I did. 

 

But then in all likelihood, like Trump and many of his supporters, you live in an entirely different reality to the one I do. 

[canuckamuck]

17 minutes ago, SoiBiker said:

 

I think you must have watched a different debate to the one I did. 

 

But then in all likelihood, like Trump and many of his supporters, you live in an entirely different reality to the one I do. 

We all do.

[Silurian]

6 hours ago, JHolmesJr said:

 

 

It was amazing when she claimed she had been thinking about how to create better paying jobs for americans and Trump said…."for 30 years?"

 

 

Actually, I thought Trump rather exaggerated on "30 years" since she only has held national public office since being a US Senator in 2001. That was only 15 years ago. But hey double that and you get 30. Plus, as Secretary of State, her main focus was more towards foreign policy not domestic job creation but hey, Donald Trump probably doesn't know what a Secretary of State actually does (something to do with typing?).

 

Of course, Trump stating that Hillary was fighting ISIS her whole life was a bit of an overstatement too. But by that time, Trump couldn't even complete a sentence and was spouting of fragments like a machine gun (among the sniffing and water drinking).

 

[Silurian]

This was my favorite Trump word salad of the debate. This was in response to cyber security and how Trump will handle it. I don't want to paste his entire comment but here is a brief excerpt. He goes from DNC emails hacking to talking about his 10 year old son's computer skills. 

 

"Now, whether that was Russia, whether that was China, whether it was another country, we don't know because the truth is under President Obama, we've lost control of things that we used to have control over. We came in with the Internet. We came up with the Internet. And I think Secretary Clinton and myself would agree very much when you look at what ISIS is doing with the Internet, they’re beating us at our own game. ISIS. So we had to get very very tough on cyber and cyber warfare. It is a huge problem. I have a son -- he’s ten years old. He has computers. He is so good with these computers. It’s unbelievable."

Edited September 27, 2016 by Silurian

[Ulysses G.]

8 hours ago, JHolmesJr said:

 

 

All in all, Trump held up well…..he kept his calm generally…made some solid points….his plan always was to study her in the first debate….the second one will be even better for him.

 

 

 

I thought he lost fairly decisively, BUT he did not flip out and got in some valid criticism, so not a total disaster. Apparently the low expectations for him helped in the end. However, he needs to stop screwing off and PREPARE for the next one.

[Opl]

And this was my favorite Clinton's reply to " Trump word salad " of the debate

 

HOLT: I'm sorry. I'm just going to follow up — and I will let you respond to that, because there's a lot there. But we're talking about racial healing in this segment. What do you say to Americans, people of color who...

(CROSSTALK)

 

TRUMP: Well, it was very — I say nothing. I say nothing, because I was able to get him to produce it. He should have produced it a long time before. I say nothing.

But let me just tell you. When you talk about healing, I think that I've developed very, very good relationships over the last little while with the African-American community. I think you can see that.

And I feel that they really wanted me to come to that conclusion. And I think I did a great job and a great service not only for the country but even for the president, in getting him to produce his birth certificate."

 

Cut back to Clinton:

HOLT: Secretary Clinton?

CLINTON: Well, just listen to what you heard. And clearly, as Donald just admitted, he knew he was going to stand on this debate stage and Lester Holt was going to be asking us questions, so he tried to put the whole racist birther lie to bed.

 

http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/9/26/13067798/trump-clinton-first-debate

Edited September 27, 2016 by Opl

[mcfish]

No dog in this race but this comment from front page CNN sums it up regarding his poor performance and the poll IMO

 

Even so, I doubt she has put him away. For one thing, Trump supporters aren't judging him by traditional standards. They have heard establishment politicians over-promise and under-deliver for so long that they crave something different

[pegman]

9 hours ago, Jingthing said:

He didn't prepare for this one.

Insiders say preparation is just not his bag, even IF he was capable. But he's not even capable. He has no attention span. Why any rational person could want such a person for president I'll never understand. 

"rational person" it was my understanding that were not voting for him. Scary how many there are of the irrational ones in your country. 

[Jingthing]

That trump -- LOSER!

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/

Quote

Out of his depth, Donald Trump clings to deception

 

 

Quote

The real Donald Trump showed up at Hofstra. Republicans must live with it.

 

 

Quote

How Clinton’s debate win could change the race

 

 

Quote

Out of his depth, Donald Trump clings to deception

 

 

Quote

Why even Republicans think Clinton won the first debate

 

Quote

Undecided voters gasped when Trump bragged about not paying taxes

 

[Jingthing]

2 hours ago, mcfish said:

No dog in this race but this comment from front page CNN sums it up regarding his poor performance and the poll IMO

 

Even so, I doubt she has put him away. For one thing, Trump supporters aren't judging him by traditional standards. They have heard establishment politicians over-promise and under-deliver for so long that they crave something different

You don't get it. There aren't ENOUGH of those hard core trumpeteers. To have any chance of winning, he needs to attract educated whites. He's turning them off even more now. 

 

BTW, I think most people on the planet should have a dog in this race. A disastrous American president like trump can destabilize the world. Over course for Putin heads, they like it. 

 

Educated and/or rational people of any color are NOT going to go for this dangerous, bigoted DUMBO.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/09/27/the-answer-that-best-exemplifies-how-badly-donald-trump-was-out-of-his-depth-in-the-debate/?tid=hybrid_experimentrandom_2_na

 

Quote

 

The answer that best exemplifies how badly Donald Trump was out of his depth in the debate

Who knows. "We have so many things that we have to do better, Lester," Trump concluded, "and certainly cyber is one of them."

Everything is broken and only Trump can fix it — though the problem and the solution were left almost completely unarticulated.

As I said: The debate in a nutshell.

 

 

Edited September 27, 2016 by Jingthing

[Andaman Al]

12 hours ago, JHolmesJr said:

Crooked Hillary's 30 years of polished lying and slithering experience gave her the edge but Mr Trump got some crippling body blows in.

 

It was amazing when she claimed she had been thinking about how to create better paying jobs for americans and Trump said…."for 30 years?"

 

Crooked got owned on that one….and a few other sticky points.

 

All in all, Trump held up well…..he kept his calm generally…made some solid points….his plan always was to study her in the first debate….the second one will be even better for him.

 

 

So please tell us what you think of your hero going on about US jobs when he has businesses where he outsourced the work to India, Bangladesh, China? He did it for one reason and one reason only - profit. He does not give a crap about Americans and their jobs, he has proven it. I just cannot begin to understand why you and the other Trumpeters actually support this man. A pathological liar, a conman who has made money from debt, a disastrous businessman who is the antithesis of Midas. I DO understand your dislike of HRC but that is NO excuse to support this moron.

[Pinot]

7 hours ago, Ulysses G. said:

 

I thought he lost fairly decisively, BUT he did not flip out and got in some valid criticism, so not a total disaster. Apparently the low expectations for him helped in the end. However, he needs to stop screwing off and PREPARE for the next one.

 

It took a big man to admit that painfully obvious result, U. None of the other Trumpeteers could do it. Oh, the polls say...bullshit. It was a trouncing. 

 

Sniffles the clown is incapable of preparing for anything. He always wings it. That's his style. He'll always be an embarrassment. 

 

The bar will remain low. Coming up, the first woman President of the United States in a landslide. 

[Silurian]

Here is a quick interesting read about the debate speech make up per candidate. Make of it what you will.

 

The First Presidential Debate: By the Numbers

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/presidential-debate-numbers/story?id=42401099

[Kiwiken]

I personally do not like either of them. But as a Citizen of a US allied Country I would rather have the bureaucrat Clinton who despite all is shown to be level headed.

Than have a reactionary President in the white house. Reagan worried me sometimes, Trump sends shivers down my spine

[mesterm]

Hillary's used up all her ammo. Trump's not even started. See you all at the next debate.

[GinBoy2]

9 hours ago, Ulysses G. said:

 

I thought he lost fairly decisively, BUT he did not flip out and got in some valid criticism, so not a total disaster. Apparently the low expectations for him helped in the end. However, he needs to stop screwing off and PREPARE for the next one.

Unfortunately  many Trumanisters seem to regard his lack of preparation a plus. It's a bit like me saying...I really fancy applying for that brain surgeon job at the local hospital....study for a medical degree? Who needs that, my patients will love me anyway

[pegman]

1 hour ago, Pinot said:

 

It took a big man to admit that painfully obvious result, U. None of the other Trumpeteers could do it. Oh, the polls say...bullshit. It was a trouncing. 

 

Sniffles the clown is incapable of preparing for anything. He always wings it. That's his style. He'll always be an embarrassment. 

 

The bar will remain low. Coming up, the first woman President of the United States in a landslide. 

Hear, Hear for the General! 

[pegman]

6 hours ago, Jingthing said:

That trump -- LOSER!

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If I was the tv commercial producer for Clinton I would have been licking my chops.

[silent]

18 hours ago, Jingthing said:

He didn't prepare for this one.

Insiders say preparation is just not his bag, even IF he was capable. But he's not even capable. He has no attention span. Why any rational person could want such a person for president I'll never understand. 

The problem? On the whole people there now are no more rational than the Donald and every form of terrorism is winning', while Hillary shows no fear of the buffoon. The answer to her own quip of do Americans want someone like that to have the nuclear launch codes, is yes as opposed to the alternative and standing down until it's too late.

[puck2]

For me it was very interesting to read Trump's childish and Thai-style excuse for his poor and at the end uncontrolled performance:

it was the ….. microphone   

 

I have read a nice comment about T.'s remark:

 

If a farmer isn't able to swim the reason for his bumbling incompetence are the swim trunks.