The other argument: Trump won
David Weigel analysis
Donald Trump has broken the political media's antenna, again and again. That's led to uncertainty about what would normally be a clear, clean storyline — that Trump lost the debate. Here’s five narratives of how maybe, possibly, Trump got the better of things. Hillary was too prepped. Trump's top surrogates insisted that a “human” candidate had gone up against a sort of talking point cyborg. Congressman Chris Collinssaid: “If you're saying something about me, and I don't like it, then I'm going to interrupt you. I thought it was strange, a couple of times, that she didn't interrupt him”. The idea here is to exploit the authenticity gap, a source of endless frustration for Democrats Trump won the start, maybe people stopped watching. Trump's campaign has been running a tight clip from the debate as an ad. Trump boils down his best “outsider” argument and asks why Clinton has not achieved her goals after a life in politics. “He was better early,” wrote Stephen Hayes in the
“Better to be better early.” Trump won on the economy.
published a contrary take. “Trump bullied his way through, at times barely letting her finish a stammering thought, but he also made one point that resonates with what so many distrustful workingclass whites in the Midwest know to be true,” wrote Jordan Weissmann. “Clinton has been a politician for a long time. Where was she on trade before this presidential race?” Trump seemed credible . “This debate did not shift the race,” said pollster Pat Caddell. “What it did do was show Trump as plausible, as a strong leader and more importantly that he cares about people.” The theory, before the debate, was that he would become a face and voice it was possible to see in the Oval Office. The snap polls did not indicate this. Clinton missed the kill shot. Clinton's decision to goad Trump then sit back as he tripped over his shoelaces seemed to deliver for her. But it did not deliver the sort of victory that ends a campaign, or starts a panic in the opposing camp. To some observers, it could have, had Clinton sprung on Trump when he glibly said he paid no taxes because he was “smart”. Clinton's campaign clearly sees it as a weapon for the final stretch. But it's not dominating coverage of the debate like it could have. —