Trump

[gumboot]

Well it's either a YouTube idiot or an orange idiot, isn't it.

[pogo]

That went well for Clinton I think. Not spectacularly so: Trump was relatively well behaved and did not lapse into the sort of histrionics that make up his rallies, or the sort of abuse he descended to at the Republican primary debates. But on a number of points he was put on the defensive – on his taxes, on his racism,his opposition to the Iraq war – and was unable to offer anything new, just the usual lies. His policies were contrasted with Clinton’s and came out looking much worse for ordinary Americans. And throughout he seemed evasive, repeatedly changing the subject or refusing to answer. Even when he gave answers they often made no sense.

And Clinton had no real problems. Sure she is not the most charismatic of debaters, but she seemed relaxed, only hesitated on a couple of occasions, and gave much better answers. Trump could have challenged her on a number of points but failed to do so, his grasp of policy being too poor. I would score it as a definite win for her, though far from a knockout. The pressure will be on Trump to up his game next time which could make for a more interesting debate.

[gravy]

Trump started relatively well but unravelled hugely.

His implicit confirmation that he didn't pay federal tax is a biggie IMHO.

[Little stoned kiwi]

I was blown away with how she talked about foreign policy. She addressed the international community before imploring the American voters not to let them down. She is a masterful politician.
Still don't trust her.

Trump was just Trump. You'd think the predictability would be wearing thin by now.

[gravy]

Well in a competition for being president it's probably not wise to ignore his unsuitability for the job just because he keeps demonstrating it.

[gumboot]

Trump unraveled, but not to the point of exposing anything so new that his supporters can't carry on ignoring it. I'm not sure any votes have changed hands.

Maybe Hillary refund a little support for showing that she's not dead?

Of course, hardcore Trumpers could say it's part of the same popular media anti-Trump conspiracy and that she was just a hologram or whatever.

[gumboot]

After watching that I can't help but think that more people need to load up goatse.cx on their phones and hold that up in the air in front of TV cameras.

[pogo]

Trump is not going to lose his core supporters easily, but he can’t win the election with just them. He needs to attract swing voters, i.e. undecided voters. Reportedly there are more of them this year. And he has two problems. First Clinton is leading, just. Trump has closed the gap but this performance will probably set him back not help him.

Second the demographic problem, that every four years whites make up a smaller share of the electorate, and winning with just white votes becomes harder and harder. In fact Democrats have won the popular vote five of the last six elections. He has to do better than previous Republicans such as McCain, Romney, whether by winning more non-white votes or winning a greater share of white votes.

Hence his attempt to reach out to Black voters. But that is almost comically bad. At the same time as getting many important things wrong, showing an utter misunderstanding of the problems facing Blacks, he is pushing a “Law and Order“ agenda which is toxic to them. At the same time he alienates many white voters, such as women put off by his misogyny, putting a ceiling on his support from whites.

[gumboot]

he is pushing a “Law and Order“ agenda which is toxic to them.

Those words come across very badly. Take a second shot at it, maybe?

[gravy]

This is beautiful.

[gravy]

Haha brilliant

https://twitter.com/David_Leavitt/statu ... 8732176384

[KlaxonCow]

he is pushing a “Law and Order“ agenda

What I'm getting from Trump's ramblings in the debates is that "these are bad people" and who are, apparently, "doing bad things".

It's good to know that he's finally mastered the semantics of the word "criminal". That might come in handy with his new job, if he gets it.

[gumboot]

Still don't trust her.

That's OK. You don't have to trust her. You just have to accept that the alternative is a fucking terrible idea.

[gravy]

Still don't trust her.

That's OK. You don't have to trust her. You just have to accept that the alternative is a fucking terrible idea.

I trust Trump. That's the problem; he looks likely to be just as awful as he says he'll be.

[Jamesac]

I trust that I've lost all patience with this fucking thing and am ready for it to be over rather than drag through another six weeks. The sooner Trump is a has-been the better. I'm not too fond of Clinton but she's not Trump, and therefore needs to win.