Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton debate 2: Who won second presidential debate?
IT PROMISED to be fiery and Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton delivered in the second presidential debate showdown.
IT PROMISED to be fiery and Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton delivered in the second presidential debate showdown.
The presidential hopefuls, who fielded questions from moderators Anderson Cooper and Martha Raddatz as well as members of the public, unleashed on each other during the 90 minute face-off at Washington University, St Louis.
But the debate turned into a “clown show” at times, according to Dr Thomas Adams, a lecturer in American Studies and History at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.
Dr Adams said while Trump supporters might see today’s debate as a win because “he didn’t self combust”, he believed the polls would show Clinton had come out on top in the end.
While her performance was far from perfect, Trump appeared much less in control, and said several outrageous comments while lacking clear policy on certain issues.
“The whole conversation was about him, and it will continue to be about him after the debate” Dr Adams said.
Dr Adams said Clinton did well by keeping a mostly calm head during 90 minutes going head to head with him, while Trump couldn’t hide his anger at times.
This much time in the spotlight was damaging to him because it showed he couldn’t control himself, even threatening to send Clinton to jail over her lost emails.
Dr Adams said many people who didn’t watch the Republican debates and tuned in for this one would have been shocked, especially by his behaviour in the first 20 minutes.
“If anyone put themselves in her place, even if people dislike her, you can’t help but feel sorry that she had to listen to this,” he said.
“He’s incomprehensible at the policy level.”
His defence over the weekend’s leak of his derogatory comments about women and sexual assault as “locker room talk” was also off-putting and Dr Adams said he felt Trump didn’t succeed in putting that scandal behind him.
“I don’t feel he did enough to pull himself back,” Dr Adams said.
But he did acknowledge Trump delivered a good few punches to his rival, particularly over Syria and the rise of ISIS in the Middle East as well as her email scandal.
He also said he felt there were a few key moments Clinton could have gone after him more, particularly on the issue of not paying taxes, which unhinged him during the first debate.
Dr John Hart, a research fellow at the ANU School of History and a specialist in American politics and elections, said he didn’t feel there was really any clear winner today.
Dr Hart said both camps would be claiming victory and by now the debates were a case of preaching to the converted.
He said he felt the debate overall was a little flat and the town hall-style questions were on the tame side.
“Trump certainly had a lot more to lose and, in a way, performed better than expected and in some ways Hillary Clinton looked as if she has switched off,” Dr Hart said.
“But perhaps she’s just bored of Trump’s nonsense.”
Dr Hart also said he didn’t believe Clinton had harmed her poll lead and didn’t feel Trump did enough to increase it.
According to Dr Hart, the winner would depend on whether you asked a Trump or Clinton supporter who was better.
Dr Hart said he felt Trump’s defence of the weekend’s video leak of him degrading women was weak and his babbling response, which went on to discuss Islamic State, was ridiculous.
He also said Clinton was clearly stronger on policy and gave good responses on the issue of Obamacare while Trump’s behaviour on stage appeared odd at times.
WHAT THE POLLS SAY
The result probably won’t become any clearer for at least a few more days, while polling companies crunch the numbers.
However, according to a CNN/ORC poll of those who watched the face-off, Clinton won the second presidential debate 57 per cent to 34 per cent for Trump.
According to a @CNN / ORC poll of debate watchers, Hillary #Clinton won the second presidential debate 57% to 34% https://t.co/xmd4eZCEhO
— CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) October 10, 2016
A YouGov poll also claimed Clinton had won but by a smaller margin, 47 per cent to 42 per cent, Fortune reported.
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