Presidential Debates: Clinton 1, Trump 0
Donald Trump’s performance at Monday night’s debate was an insolent disgrace to American politics.
Not only has this election cycle destroyed our young voters’ faith in our democracy, it has demeaned every aspect of American government. Everything from email scandals to tax returns to Donald Trump’s heist of the Republican party and corruption within the DNC has been a chaotic jumble of petty politics and deplorable action. Not to mention the utter lack of intelligent discourse.
Monday night’s debate was nothing more than an extension of this horribly repetitious pattern.
On one side of the stage we had Trump, whose unprepared, childlike banter lacked even a modicum of intelligence. S.E. Cupp, columnist for the New York Daily News, posits all Trump had to do was, “hammer one point home: Clinton is a politician who doesn’t get it.” In other words, Trump had to appeal to the average, under-educated American.
On the other side of the stage we had Clinton, whose intelligence and knowledge of policy destroyed him. Monday’s debate wasn’t about polite politics, it was a disgustingly comedic war between two flaming personalities. Politics didn’t matter, it was all about who could interrupt the most and hit the opponent with the best one liners.
Clinton’s repulsive tendencies to lie and inconsistent stances on important issues seem tame when compared with Donald Trump’s sickening bigotry, racism, ignorance and lack of intellectual thought.
Moderator Lester Holt did nothing to pacify or civilize the debate. Holt’s utter lack of control over the proceedings was pathetic; the two candidates lied, interrupted, talked over each other and ran circles around direct questions.
Let’s talk policy. Amidst the flamboyance, the candidates discussed American jobs, tax plans, race relations, cyber security, homegrown terrorism and nuclear regulation.
Trump’s tax plan, which Clinton coined “trumped-up trickle-down,” would, as Clinton claims, only benefit the top one percent. Trump argues that tax cuts for businesses large and small will, “be a job creator like we haven’t seen since Ronald Reagan.” While the alleviation of taxes will certainly make business grow, that hardly does anything to help the individual worker. The working class will see no benefits unless we also raise the minimum wage. It would actually be a disadvantage to make businesses wealthier and more powerful without also demanding more from them.
Monday also saw a revamp of Trump’s pro-“stop and frisk” sentiments. When pressed by Holt on the unconstitutionality of the practice and the racial profiling it encouraged, Trump simply responded, “No, you’re wrong.” It goes without saying that Trump’s blatant disregard for law and his own racism is a true disgrace to the election.
Three of Trump’s snide comments stood out during the debate. The first occurred as Hillary attacked Trump for taking advantage of the housing market crash in 2008. Trump said in response, “that’s good business.” Good business, Donald? That’s simply taking advantage of fellow Americans.
On the topic of business, Trump argued that military and infrastructure costs our country too much, and his experience as a business man could help alleviate and negotiate these costs down. This sounds attractive, but in all honesty, is that really possible?
Later on in the debate, Trump conceded that he paid no federal income tax by saying, “That makes me smart.” How can we believe in a man who’s definition of smart is being able to wiggle his way out of supporting the country he claims to love?
Trump went on to describe what’s wrong with our nation, emphasizing how much of a third-world country we have become. Donald, in what world is it right for a presidential candidate to compare the United States to the hardships of Syrian refugees and victims of human rights violations across our planet.
So who won the debate? Was it Trump and his callous remarks, or Hillary and her devious smile?
Clinton’s repulsive tendencies to lie and inconsistent stances on important issues seem tame when compared with Donald Trump’s sickening bigotry, racism, ignorance and lack of intellectual thought.
Meanwhile, all Donald has to do is keep the Democratic party frozen just long enough to slip through the crack and into the White House.
So when asked who won the debate, the right answer is Clinton; she was composed and smart. But the true answer? Donald Trump. But for all the wrong reasons.
Trump’s voter base is set in stone. There’s nothing short of murder that will sway his strongest supporters. Hillary has it tougher. After Bernie’s exit, young voters and the rest of his supporters have been left hanging in a political stasis. Will Hillary be able to bridge the divide between her former opponent’s radical policies and her own?
Meanwhile, all Donald has to do is keep the Democratic party frozen just long enough to slip through the crack and into the White House.
So America, do we really want to go from the first black president to a racist one? The two party system is all we have for now. So as much as we may hate Hillary Clinton, we need to prevent four years of embarrassment, racism and war. We can’t vote for Donald Trump, and we can’t let him win by voting for independents, and that only leaves one, slightly less-than-satisfactory candidate, Hillary Clinton.