Put-downs resume on the road
HILLARY Clinton and Donald Trump battled to break out of deadlocked polls yesterday after clashing in their first televised debate, lashing each other with insults on the campaign trail in critical states.
An exuberant Clinton came out swinging, condemning her Republican rival as “dangerously incoherent” with an energy that suggested she was exiting perhaps the worst period of her 15-month campaign beset by blunders in belittling Trump supporters and being laid up with pneumonia.
The Manhattan billionaire retaliated, telling a rally of thousands of supporters in the battleground state of Florida “we’re going to get rid of that crooked woman” and accusing the press of alleged bias.
“I felt so positive about it,” Clinton told reporters aboard her campaign plane the day after the most watched US presidential debate in history that Nielsen said 84 million people tuned in to watch.
Most mainstream political analysts said the debate went in favour of the 68-year-old Democrat, who frequently forced her prickly opponent on the back foot over judgment, taxes, foreign policy and terrorism.
“The real point is about temperament and fitness and qualification to hold the most important, the hardest job in the world, and I think people saw last night some very clear differences between us.”
But with polls locked in a near dead-heat, showing Clinton’s lead has all but evaporated, both sides cried victory.
Trump was in Florida to woo Hispanic voters, who polls show overwhelmingly prefer Clinton.
“Her only experience has been a failure,” Trump told the crowd at a fundraiser.