Now that the third and final presidential debate is over, Donald Trump is running out of time and tactics to close the gap with front-runner Hillary Clinton.
The debate in Las Vegas Wednesday night didn’t seem to be a game changer. Instead, after a serious start, it morphed into a nasty series of charges and counter-charges that broke little new ground. The candidates’ mutual dislike has gotten to the point that the candidates declined to shake hands before and after the debate.
Trump did well at first, remaining composed and appearing reasonable, as did Clinton. But her needling of Trump finally got under his skin, and in the final half hour, he went back to his abrasive style of repeated interruptions, grimacing that was captured in the split-screen image shown on TV, and reacting harshly to perceived slights. Clinton, the Democratic nominee, seemed much more conscious of the split screen, and she listened to Trump’s remarks, including his repeated charges that she is a liar and has committed crimes, with a bemused look or a glance that showed no emotion.
Trump, the Republican nominee, caused an uproar when he refused to pledge to accept the result of the Nov. 8 presidential election if he loses. “I will look at it at the time,” he said. “I will keep you in suspense.” He was responding to a question from moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News about his claims that the election is being “rigged” against him.
This comment was widely criticized for undermining fundamental principles of American democracy, such as the sanctity of U.S. elections and the peaceful transfer of power. Even his vice presidential running mate, Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana, has parted way with Trump on this issue. Pence told CNN before the debate, “We’ll certainly accept the outcome of this election.”
Clinton immediately called Trump’s comment “horrifying” and said, “Let’s be clear about what he is saying and what that means. He is denigrating — he is talking down our democracy. And I am appalled that someone who is the nominee of one of our two major parties would take that position.” She told Trump: “You are not up to doing the job.”
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Clinton listed a number of cases in which Trump had declared something rigged against him when he didn’t get his way, including his failure to win an Emmy award for his reality-TV show “The Apprentice.” Trump said the system for awarding those prizes was fixed.
On another incendiary issue, Trump said the women who have come forward in the past two weeks to accuse him of unwanted sexual advances, such as groping and kissing without a women’s consent, were lying. “I think they want either fame or her [Clinton’s] campaign did it,” he said. Hillary Clinton declined to address allegations that her husband Bill had behaved badly toward women in the past, including when he was president and had an affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
She hit hard at Trump. “Donald thinks belittling women makes him bigger,” she said. “He goes after their dignity, their self worth, and I don’t think there’s a woman anywhere who doesn’t know what that feels like. We now know what Donald thinks, what he says and how he acts toward women. That’s who Donald is. I think it’s up to all of us to demonstrate who we are.”
Trump replied, “Nobody has more respect for women than I do.”
Toward the end of the 90-minute debate, Clinton said that under her economic plan, her own taxes and Trump’s taxes would increase as part of a tax hike on the wealthy to keep the Social Security system solvent–unless, she added, Trump could game the system and figure out a way to avoid paying taxes. Trump then interjected, “Such a nasty woman.”
Discussing illegal immigration, Trump repeated his pledge to deport undocumented workers who committed serious crimes such as trafficking in drugs. “We have some bad hombres here, and we’re going to get them out,” he said. But he was vague on how he would implement another part of his immigration plan, his promise to deport all undocumented workers who entered the United States illegally. They could number in the millions.
Overall, Trump seemed intent on shoring up his political base rather than reaching out to undecided voters such as college-educated people, women, African-Americans and Latinos. He has been doing poorly among those constituencies.
DECISION 2016: [U.S. News Covers the Race to the White House]
The election is two weeks from Tuesday and the Republican nominee is lagging behind Clinton both nationally and in most of the key battleground states where the Electoral College majority will be decided. A SurveyMonkey-Washington Post poll released Wednesday morning found that Clinton held a lead of four percentage points or more among likely voters in states that add up to 304 electoral votes. A candidate needs 270 to win the presidency. Trump seemed headed for victory in states with a total of only 138 electoral votes.
Clinton was ahead by substantial margins in the battleground states of New Hampshire, Virginia, Michigan, New Mexico, Colorado, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. She was essentially tied with Trump in Florida and Ohio and, in a big surprise, she trailed Trump by only 2 percentage points in Texas, a longtime GOP bastion.
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Clinton Exits Debate in Commanding Position originally appeared on usnews.com
