September 26, 2016
Well the first punches have been thrown in the series of three debates between Hillary and Donald, and I would have to call it Hillary by split decision. Sadly, it didn’t have to be so. The Donald had her on the ropes early, but failed to deliver the knockout punch that would have easily landed on her corrupt and exposed chin.
In the first half of the debate, Trump managed to corner Clinton on issues from her continuing e-mail saga to her numerous miserable failures on matters of state, to hers and Obama’s disastrous economic policies. He sounded in control, reasonable, and possessed of a firm grasp of the facts. Hillary’s mask-like and reptilian attempt at a smile betrayed how uncomfortable she was in the crosshairs, but then Trump began spewing repeated inanities that never hit home.
When Clinton mentioned a federal discrimination lawsuit that was brought against one of Trump’s rental properties in the early 70’s, Trump parried well initially by noting that several other entities were named in the suit, and that he settled without admitting guilt. But this would have been a perfect moment to say, “Yes, a lawsuit was brought because not all of us have the FBI and the DOJ in our pockets. Not all of us can have the Director of the FBI stand in front of the cameras for 20 minutes on July 5th detailing lie after lie, and malfeasance after malfeasance, and then refuse to indict.” It was a perfect opportunity, but he allowed Hillary to get back to her corner unscathed.
When Hillary tried to tar Trump as sympathetic to Russia because of his implied relationship with Vladimir Putin, Trump should have said it was she who pressed the comically failed “reset button.” When she mentioned Russian hackers, Trump should have pointed out that it was she who exposed government secrets with a private and illegal server, but he failed to thrust.
Clinton came off the ropes to land a few jabs when she mentioned Trump’s vague and nebulous position at the advent of the Iraq War, but The Donald counter-punched by rightly averring that it was her and Obama’s leadership that created the vacuum that birthed ISIS. However, he had the perfect opening to mention how Obama referred to the terror outfit as the JV team, but he neglected to do so. Debates such as these are always remembered in sound bites, and JV team would have gone a long way to attaching Clinton irredeemably to the savages that she helped create with feckless policy positions in Libya, Syria, and Iraq. Trump also should have said that regardless of his positions on any of it, he was not the one in charge at the time, and his opinions at that time were not at all relevant.
As Clinton started waxing about the importance of working with Muslim countries to help defeat terrorism, Trump could have said Clinton would know all about working with Muslim countries as her Clinton Foundation has been taking money from them for years. Is it a pay for play, or simply that she likes to consort with countries that subjugate, oppress, rape, and kill women, gays, Christians, and Muslim apostates—the very groups she purports to love and support? Again, Clinton managed to rope-a-dope away from any serious Trump blows.
Finally, Clinton, in full hypocritical bloom, played the gender card, implying Trump was a name-calling misogynist. Donald hinted that he wanted to say something, but he took the high road when he should have mentioned the elephant in the room. He needed to speak of Hillary’s philandering, rapist, pedophile husband. He needed to let the millennials know that while she talks a big game as a feminist, she was the point man (I know…the word point man is sexist!) in Slick Willy’s “bimbo patrol,” assailing and ruining the lives of that pig’s many accusers. Alas, Trump beat the same drum ad nauseum about his myriad business successes, instead of going for the jugular.
Trump has to tread a fine line. The pundits keep saying he has to come across as presidential, but he’s gotten this far by being himself and going on the attack. In the next debate, he needs to work from body blows to attacking the head. God knows with that sow’s obvious neurological issues, a head blow could put her on the canvas.