The Patriot Post® · Debate Recap
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton met last night at Hofstra University for their first one-on-one debate of the 2016 presidential campaign. There were pluses and minuses throughout the exchange. Here’s my take:
Donald Trump accomplished what he had to last night. He stood on the debate stage for 90 minutes with a career politician. Hillary Clinton is a lawyer. She has participated in dozens of debates as a Senate candidate and as a two-time presidential contender. She is one of the most prominent political figures of our age, and Donald Trump held his own. He showed that while his arena is the business world, he can handle the serious issues confronting our country.
Trump reiterated that America is on the edge of an abyss and that Hillary Clinton is part of the problem. Because of the failed policies of career politicians like Clinton, America is $20 trillion in debt, our manufacturing base has been gutted, race relations are deteriorating, crime is rising and after eight years of Obama/Clinton foreign policies the world is a far more dangerous place.
And while Hillary Clinton is campaigning on her experience, Trump repeatedly asked her, “Where have you been for the past 30 years?” She has virtually no accomplishments. Even her supporters struggle to name them.
Trump hammered the point that if voters want change — REAL CHANGE — you don’t put someone who is a fixture of the political establishment in charge. You do what major corporations do when they need to shake things up – you bring in someone from the outside. In this election, Donald Trump is the agent of change who will make America great again.
The Lauer Effect
The Clinton campaign and its left-wing allies obviously succeeded in their campaign to browbeat the debate moderator, NBC’s Lester Holt. You will recall that the left was furious with Matt Lauer’s performance at the Commander-In-Chief forum when he dared to ask Clinton some tough questions about her mishandling of national security secrets.
Holt got the message loud and clear. He gave Hillary a pass on Benghazi, her email server and the Clinton Foundation. Yet he asked Donald Trump about his bankruptcies, birtherism and his tax returns.
Holt pressed Trump with six follow-up questions, but failed to ask a single follow-up of Hillary Clinton.
Holt “fact checked” Trump on the constitutionality of New York City’s stop-and-frisk policy, but failed to “fact check” Hillary on her past support for the Trans Pacific Partnership as “the gold standard” of trade deals.
Donald Trump wasn’t debating just Hillary Clinton, he was debating Lester Holt too!
Post-Debate Survey
A “flash poll” conducted by Breitbart immediately after the debate found some interesting results.
48% said Clinton won the debate, while 43% said Trump won.
However, when asked which candidate was “more plausible as president,” 46% said Trump, while 42% said Clinton. As pollster Pat Caddell put it that was “the most critical factor” for Trump.
95% said the debate would not change their vote.
Two percent of previously undecided voters, however, now favor Trump.
Asked which candidate “showed that they care about people like you,” Trump won 49% to 44% for Clinton.