Clinton Clobbers Trump in the Deplorable Debate

It’s been 48 hours since the most anticipated presidential debate in the history of the planet and I am finally ready to share some thoughts on the deplorable show that was supposed to be a substantive discussion of the issues that impact all of us as Americans.

Sometimes a picture sums it up perfectly. The expression on Hillary Clinton’s face, in this photo taken after the debate, is priceless. She absolutely whipped Donald Trump’s butt and she knew it. She’s been positively crowing about it for two days and Trump just sent out an email to his supporters asking for them to take a “debate preparation survey,” asking for input on how to do better in the next one.

I don’t really have a dog in this hunt. I think both candidates are thoroughly undeserving of the Oval Office and don’t plan on voting for either. So I can say without bias that I can’t see how any fair-minded person could have watched the entire debate and come to any conclusion other than that she utterly cleaned his clock. That’s not to say that the debate will move any Trump supporters into Hillary’s camp but I would be shocked if she doesn’t get a bump in the polls, fueled by the undecided voters.

The debate didn’t start out deplorably. In fact, if you were an impartial observer and just watched the first 25-to-30 minutes, you would think that Trump was the big winner. The night started out with a topic in Trump’s wheelhouse, jobs and the economy. He framed the discussion about new thinking vs politics as usual and had her looking very defensive about her past comments of the Trans-Pacific Partnership being the “gold standard” of trade deals. She seemed robotic and it was obvious that her staff was in her head telling her to smile more, not look stern or angry. The perpetual smile was just not natural.

Although the ultimate attack dog did not hesitate to attack his opponent, early on Trump asked Mrs. Clinton if it was OK to call her “Secretary Clinton” because he wanted her to be “very happy,” that it was “very important” to him. I have to admit, that made me chuckle; he was back to “Crooked Hillary” on the stump the next day.

In the final hour, however, Clinton’s preparation and Trump’s lack thereof showed.

What is so sad about this wretched first debate between candidates who are vying to be the President of the United States is that I, as a passionate political junkie, can only remember the following things in any detail from that final hour.

• Trump arguing whether with moderator Lester Holt about whether or not was for or against the Iraq war from the beginning. As if his opinion, as a businessman at the time, was even remotely significant.
• Trump saying that Clinton has been “fighting ISIS” her entire adult life, which is patently preposterous.
• Clinton saying that, by the end of the evening, she would be blamed for everything that’s ever happened, to which Trump responded, “why not?”
• Trump agreeing to release his income tax returns only if Clinton would release her 33,000 deleted emails.
• Trump saying he was “smart” after Clinton suggested that the self-described billionaire hasn’t been paying any federal income tax. Yes, sports fans, Trump did NOT deny that he hasn’t been paying ANY federal income tax whatsoever!! 
• Trump going on and on, patting himself on the back for getting Barack Obama to produce his birth certificate, proving that he was born in the United States.
• Clinton going through a dirty laundry list of the Donald’s past misogynistic comments about women, with Trump saying that Rosie O’Donnell “deserves it” and then congratulating himself for not saying something “extremely rough” to Hillary and her family (obviously referencing Bill Clinton’s marital infidelities)
• Clinton’s best line of the night, when Trump criticized her for staying home in the previous five days while he was doing rallies all over the country:

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

— Hillary Clinton

That line sums it the debate and the entire campaign perfectly. Whatever you think of her, you can’t say that Hillary Clinton is not prepared to be the President of the United States. In fact, I think it’s fair to say she’s been preparing for this job for 24 years. Trump was winging it for the entire debate, just as he has been winging it for the entire campaign, and it showed.

Clinton repeatedly hammered Trump on his biggest vulnerabilities and, being the rookie debater that he is, the Donald repeatedly took the bait. Not only did Trump go down what many have called “rabbit holes” he did so in a way that squandered opportunities to pursue her vulnerabilities. When he brought up the topic of her private email server and she simply responded “it was a mistake,” he used a minute of his follow-up time to further justify why he he wasn’t releasing his taxes and how great his business was and what an overall fabulous businessperson he was.

Now, I’ve said that any fair-minded person would say that Clinton won this debate, at least on points if not necessarily in hearts and minds. That same person would have to acknowledge that moderator Lester Holt (from the NBC Nightly News) put his thumb on the scale in her favor. Trump was asked pointed questions about his unreleased tax returns, about the Obama birther controversy, and about his comment that Clinton didn’t have a “presidential look,” teeing up the misogyny segment. In addition, he argued with Trump about his claim that he was against the Iraq war from the beginning as if he were the candidate debating on stage.

For Secretary Clinton? No question about the private email server (just “would you like to respond” when Trump brought it up), no question about the Clinton Foundation, no question about calling half of Trump’s supporters a “basket of deplorables,” no question about Benghazi or the failed policy in Libya, and no fact checking of Clinton when she denied calling the TPP the “gold standard” of trade deals. Defenders would argue that Holt’s NBC colleague Matt Lauer spent a disproportionate amount of time on Hillary’s emails in the “Commander in Chief” forum a few weeks ago but that event was in front of an audience with 70 million fewer eyeballs than Monday’s debate.

To be fair to Holt, who I generally like, moderating a debate between these dreadful candidates is a nearly impossible job. The two of them both lie all the time. Trump lied much more on Monday because the email server topic was not pursued so she didn’t have to go through her usual litany of falsehoods and half-truths about that. And, although Holt didn’t ask a pointed question to Clinton about the email server, he gave Trump an opening to pursue it in detail when he asked about cyber security. Instead, the bumbling billionaire babbled on and on about not being sure it was Russia that hacked the emails of the Democratic National Committee, how it could be China or some 400-point hacker sitting on his bed.

Let’s be realistic here. Trump did not get clobbered in this debate because of Lester Holt. He got whipped because he wasn’t prepared. It’s as simple as that. Can you imagine how Jeb Bush, John Kasich, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz feel right now? They’ve got to be shaking their head in wonderment that this unprepared, un-serious reality TV star won their party’s nomination. And even though he’s stumping for her, Joe Biden also has to be wondering about what might have been.

85 million people watched this debate on television and who knows how many more streaming online. Of those 85 million, about half would probably be better candidates for president than these Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. Well, maybe not half. Two thirds?

Thanks for reading.

Chris Bodig