What do you even say about what transpired last night in St. Louis? Probably the lowest point in American presidential campaign history. Hard to be optimistic about the future of the country after watching it. As far as who won and who lost I’d have to say Trump did better than he did in the first debate, but at what cost?
I’d either call it a draw or give Trump a slight edge because Hillary Clinton was just rope a doping trying not to make a huge mistake given her lead. She took the punches and rode it out. The pre-debate press conference with the four women was unlike anything ever seen before in presidential campaigns. Trump even threw Mike Pence under the bus at one point in answering a question on his policy in Syria. You have to wonder how either of these canidates would be able to govern the country given the depth of hatred displayed last night. The only people happy about last night are the alt right who Trump, Conway, and Bannon pandered to from start to finish on Sunday night.
Donald Trump went even more rogue than he did in the GOP primary debates. It will probably resonate with his core followers, but beyond those people, I can’t imagine any other people in the country were impressed by the display. To win the White House in this day and age, it’s almost impossible to do so just pandering to angry white Americans who haven’t come to terms with globalization and the fact it’s not the 1950’s anymore. Perhaps if Trump hadn’t already torched both John McCain and Mitt Romney he could talk to them about the presidential demographics now in place. The world has changed as has America’s role as the leader of the free world.
To me—it re-inforces how far our culture has fallen in the forty-six years since Richard Nixon resigned in disgrace. But how could any of us be surprised? Trump basically followed this script when he systematically eliminated each of his sixteen GOP competitors during the primary process. No one was spared and why would Hillary Clinton be treated any differently. If you’re going to go rogue with George W Bush in the South Carolina primary debate why would it be different in the general election with Hillary and Bill Clinton.
To me, the intrigue isn’t in how the Clinton campaign will respond, but rather what happens to the Republican Party during these last thirty days of the campaign. One would hope it can’t drop to a lower rogue level than last night. To me it would hinge on how will the Trump campaign reach out to moderate independents, suburban Republican women, and both college educated men and women given the torched earth show displayed in St. Louis last night.