Oct 3, 2016
Joe Alton talks about the first presidential debate of
2016.He's unimpressed with the performance of both candidates.
Hillary Clinton was stodgy, smug, and, well, all the things that
you've come to expect of Hillary Clinton. But Madame President (we
might have to get used to that term) knew that she had Donald Trump
squirming towards the end, so much so that she felt comfortable
enough to play the "sexist" card.
Donald Trump started off strong and you thought that he might gain
some new support from those that want a presidential, yet strong,
commander-in-chief. And then his skin got in the way; his
orange-pink, thin-as-a-slice-of-prosciutto skin.
Donald Trump has some gut instincts as to what will play before an
audience, but he doesn't have the presence of mind that one-on-one
debating requires; the ability to grasp upon something, just said
by your opponent, that you can turn to your advantage.
That doesn't mean to say that he never takes an opening. When
Clinton garbled that she wasn't in favor of the Trans-Pacific
Partnership trade deal, Trump jumped in with "You said it was the
Gold Standard!"
In a discussion about jobs, Trump parried Clinton's standard stump
blather with "But you haven't done that in 30 years!" To be honest,
Trump would have won the debate if he had just said that after
every one of her talking points. Just as Ronald Reagan used "There
you go again" to unseat Jimmy Carter.