The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)

Obama only winner from live TV debate

- BY ANDREW LIDDLE

In a presidenti­al debate there can be only one winner.

In this case, it was president Obama.

Sure, you could make a case for either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton taking the honours.

The former secretary of state was composed, coherent and cognitive.

Generally reserved and reasoned, the Democrat nominee was still able to deliver withering attacks on Mr Trump’s refusal to release his tax returns and his promotion – since retracted – of the Obama “birther” conspiracy.

Mr Trump too was at his boisterous best, at least at points. The tycoon turned politician was able to attack Mrs Clinton as being part of an establishm­ent that has let down middle class Americans.

Why, he asked, is she just answering crucial questions on issues such as economic growth now, when she’s been in top jobs for 30 years?

The general discourse throughout the 90-minute contest though reflected the peculiar nature of this presidenti­al race.

Gone were the references to God. Major policy issues such as foreign affairs and healthcare barely featured. Tax was skirted over.

There was, in fact, little of substance – which serves broad-brush Donald better than finite Hillary.

Yet it was really a dead heat between the pair, with both sides claiming a victory but voters appearing unmoved.

The same could not be said for the poor moderator – Lester Holt. The NBC host was, in the words of one of the debate’s producers, supposed to be a “plant pot”. If he was, he quickly withered and died under the sustained barrage of The Donald.

Attempts to regain control of the proceeding­s – which overran as candidates refused to heed his pleas to keep to time – led to a series of stinging rebukes of Mr Trump’s record.

Right they may be, but there is little doubt he asked more of the Republican than the Democrat.

With two more debates to come, it is possible one or the other could deliver a knockout blow in the future, but it seems unlikely.

Instead, we have a situation where neither candidate is as popular as the outgoing president Obama. And on the basis of this debate, it is easy to see why.

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