Tonight's Presidential Debate (9/26/16)

[Replay]

Anyone else watching?

This is the first time in almost a decade that I've made sure to sit down and catch as much of one of the debates live as I can, instead of relying on transcripts.

And how, holy shit, this is a brutal brawl so far.

You see more of what is inside of candidates when they are under stress, and a more accurate performance and simulation of the stresses of the job they want and how they might perform under it, than you do when they simply spout pre-prepared rhetoric.

I can't really pick a winner so far. It seems to me that both are showing both their strengths and shortcomings alternately.

I entered in somewhat late, coming in on the start of the tax/trade issue discussion. Trump sounds somewhat better on business and trade issues but that "It's just business" comment on his desire to profit from the Crash of 2008 was not pleasant to hear. Meanwhile, Hillary as usual sounds much more moderate and forward-thinking on clean energy, and less xenophobic about the little foreign policy that has been discussed; but I keep wincing every time she responds to his entreaties to look her in the eye by looking away, smiling, and seeming to gloat when she thinks she scores a point, and getting rid of one's opponent simply by pulling out the "crazy" card for points does not play for me.

[Replay]

WHOA!

Trump just hit Hillary with the "release the e-mails" card and the crowd started CHEERING...I mean just RAUCOUS applause.

Hillary tried to hit Trump in response with the "release your tax returns"...no response at ALL.

[Replay]

She just got her own cheer after all with the "you have paid no income tax for a number of years."

This is Ali-Frazier as far as debates go, people.

[Don]

I'm not expecting much out of this because if you got a guy who doesn't care if his facts are totally wrong that's not really a debate.

[kali o.]

It's trumps debate to lose....

Hilary is pretty boring - she needs to work on that.

Edit: Only watched a bit, but Trump runs over Hilary during confrontations and then dominates the exchange. That is absolutely going to hurt Hilary unless she manages to start asserting herself.

[Julius Seeker]

Did anything important actually get discussed, or was it a silly mud flinging thing?

The problem with the whole Trump vs. Hillary thing is it doesn't seem to have anything to do with actual policy for running the country. The US is beginning to reach Idiocracy levels. In a few elections it will be The Rock vs. Vince McMahon.

[ManaMan]

The whole thing is BS. I mean, who hasn't made up their minds at this point?



I watched it for a bit but couldn't stand it. Trump was his usual prick self and Hillary was a robot. I know I'm going to vote for Hillary but yeah, she's uninspiring. Anyone on the left has one choice: mediocre or awful. Do you vote for Hillary and continue more of the political stalemate/brinksmanship that we've had for the past 8 years or do you vote for Trump and get...? Hillary won't be able to pass *any* of her policies. None. She'll just at best defend the center-left compromise legislation (Obamacare, financial reform, etc) that Obama was able to cram through in the small window when Democrats controlled congress.

I guess things could be worse. The economy is doing alright and unemployment is pretty low. People just seem unhappy and on edge.

[kali o.]

I dont know if "idiocracy" is a fair assessment. All leadership has always been bolstered by celebrity (even Canada - look at Trudeau). Perhaps it is playing a more noticable role thanks to media/internet.

I think people need to really appreciate why folks are voting Trump. They want to break the system. They recognize the status quo is not sustainable in a global framework. Look at every poll showing Trump beating Clinton in the debate -- while nearly every media piece says Clinton trounced Trump. There is a divide and disconnect between the elite and the people....people want a change and it is Trumps election to lose.

[Eric]

I dont know if "idiocracy" is a fair assessment. All leadership has always been bolstered by celebrity (even Canada - look at Trudeau). Perhaps it is playing a more noticable role thanks to media/internet.

I think people need to really appreciate why folks are voting Trump. They want to break the system. They recognize the status quo is not sustainable in a global framework. Look at every poll showing Trump beating Clinton in the debate -- while nearly every media piece says Clinton trounced Trump. There is a divide and disconnect between the elite and the people....people want a change and it is Trumps election to lose.

Online polls with an increasingly number of people who find this presidental race hilarious trolling up said polls.

[Julius Seeker]

On the proper polls where the voting population were people, not 4-chan user bots voting on a website (https://twitter.com/MaxOfS2D/status/780654276053983232), Hillary Clinton won by a landslide: http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/27/politics/ ... bate-poll/
The attendees were polled, 62% said Hillary won the debate, to only 27% on Trump's side.

After reading the summary, Trump got slaughtered, he seems to have come off as an inept child (not surprising, considering the republicans are pretty much the bumpkin party). http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-37481070

And apparently the republicans are making up excuses for losing the debate, including whining fact-checkers have an agenda against Trump because he doesn't know the facts: http://www.mediaite.com/tv/chris-christ ... an-agenda/ & https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics ... story.html

But I also get the sense that this was not a true political debate: a policy topic is presented, each party's candidate attacks the opposing party's assertions on the topic while supporting their own, and then a rebuttal period if it is warranted. This one seemed more like "He did that" "She did that" with no real policy topics at all, which means it wasn't a real political debate.

[kali o.]

Ya, the first article I read quoted all the online polls that Trump won. I read a follow up that said she won in the "scientific" polls - Ill accept that as unbias truth despite not having read up on it.

I kinda include the trolls in the group that want to break the system and change (how or if they vote is the question). Its a little scary to think policy can be influenced by folks on the net, egging other stupid people on for the lulz....scary and funny.

[Replay]

In the end, I got what I expected: I saw nothing on that stage worth voting for.

A dishonest real estate baron with a thin skin and a nasty temper is not a compelling alternative to an establishment-branded, hawkish, perpetual liar who scuttled a more honest candidate out of her way so she could take power.

Either way, I think we are in trouble. I get the profound sense that it is not going to be overly safe to criticize the government in America anymore for the next four to eight years, no matter who wins. Either way the deficit is going to skyrocket; whether or not it is for Republican tax cuts for a gilded, dishonest, murderous private overclass or for Democratic high salaries and wars for a gilded, dishonest, murderous governmental overclass does not make much difference to the rest of us. And either way we are going to witness a profound escalation of our Middle Eastern conflicts that provokes the West further into an expensive, heartbreaking, unwinnable culture war with the rest of the one billion people in the Muslim world.

That is what a small, brutal group of wealthy and powerful arms dealers and "social engineers" wants, of course - the weakening of all the world's governments via warfare and debt so that their private wealth and power may be then used to take and consolidate global power for themselves.

But the consequences are going to be terrible for the rest of us.

[Replay]

Yes, this.