Dan Rather. (photo: Mark Sagliocco/Getty)
20 October 16
suspect the headline out of tonight may very well be Donald Trump’s
refusal to guarantee that he will accept the decision of the voters on
November 8. It is a horrifying and destabilizing betrayal of the norms
of American politics. But it was just one part of the final debate in a
campaign that seems to be firmly in the Twilight Zone.
This is not what
our democracy should be, but it is where we are today. I wonder if many
minds were changed. I doubt it.
Hillary Clinton has been judged the winner of the
first two debates. Tonight, many felt Trump needed a knockout to get
back in the race. But I think this was Clinton’s best performance -
perhaps by far. I think she wanted this to be a preview of her
presidency. Her tone was the most straightforward and direct I have yet
seen. She didn’t try to run away from her policy expertise. She embraced
it. It was as if she was saying, “I am here. I am smart. I am
qualified. I will not be intimidated or silenced. And I am ready to be
president.”
The format of tonight’s debate favored depth over
breadth on the number of topics. This meant that a lot of important
issues (climate change?) were left unquestioned, but the benefit was
that the able moderator Chris Wallace could drill down to real policy
with the most important quality of an interviewer - the follow up
question. And he used it to good effect.
There has been a silly trope floating around the
coverage of the Clinton campaign about "likeability". Many critics have
claimed that the very notion is sexist. I agree.
Yet tonight, Clinton
seemed to throw those worries aside. There were fewer anecdotal flights
of storytelling about her interactions with "average families" that you
often hear about on the stump. Clinton was steely, determined, forceful.
I think this will be the tone of her presidential face, and I think it
is one she wears well and naturally.
Clinton hit Trump hard on issue after issue with
knowledge and facts - on Russia, the Supreme Court, nuclear weapons,
immigration, and the list goes on. You could disagree with her on
policy, but you can’t question whether she knows what she’s talking
about. One big line that I think will play on was in the dust up over
Russia.
Who would have thought that years after the end of the Cold War
the specter of Russia would loom over an American presidential campaign?
But there you have it.
When the discussion turned to Wikileaks and who
was responsible for the hack, Trump, disagreeing with the assessment of
the U.S. intelligence agencies, said we don’t know who is behind it.
Clinton fired back - He would rather believe Vladimir Putin than the
military professionals and intelligence officials. It’s a line you could
expect from Ronald Reagan.
By contrast, Trump has been skating through the
campaign on buzzwords and applause lines that fire up his base. Tonight
the format asked for more substance and he struggled. He often left
topics dangling, meandered through head-scratching sentences, and
fumbled with thoughts that went nowhere - all lines of thoughts wavering
in the wind. Often his most cogent statements were cheap shots. When he
would stop talking, I sometimes had to ask myself what was he talking
about?
Trump’s millions of eager followers will continue to
cheer as the majority of Americans seem to be turning the page on this
ugly campaign. They have seen all they need from Trump and they have had
enough. There were many lines from this debate that could make for
powerful Clinton campaign ads. But I am not sure she will need them.
Trump may not agree to abide by the results of the
election. But hopefully the rest of the country can act with a bit more
maturity and decency.
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