The third and final presidential debate
was much like the first two—contentious and bitter, with Clinton being her
typical robotic self (“I’m a real person!”) and Trump being Trump. One welcome
change was the moderator. Chris Wallace may well be the first moderator of a
presidential debate not to be widely
condemned afterward by one side or the other. He asked hard-hitting,
substantive questions of both candidates, and was the model of the
tough-but-fair journalist that have become all too rare in general election
debates.
And there the differences with prior
debates end. Madame Robot came out ahead of Trump, mainly due to the latter’s
slide during the final half. Trump has noticeably improved his performance
since the first general debate last month, and especially since the early
primary season debates, but he still reverts to form the longer he’s on stage.
The interruptions become more frequent and blustery; the outlandish statements
begin to flow more easily.
If there was one defining moment of this
phenomenon, and of the debate as a whole, it came when Trump refused,
repeatedly, to guarantee that he would accept the outcome of the election.
“I’ll keep you in suspense,” were his final words on the subject. Democrats’
indignant claims that to question the outcome of an election is unprecedented
ring hollow—Florida, 2000, anyone?—but with that one response, Trump did more
damage to himself with independent voters than the Clinton campaign could hope
to achieve. As always, Trump came
through for Clinton in the end.
Overall, there was no game-changer once
again. Clinton probably won narrowly. And Trump did nothing to prevent himself
from suffering a humiliating defeat in three weeks.
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