In third debate, it was too little, too late for Trump

Abandoned by much of his party and shooting for an almost non-existent path to victory, Donald Trump needed something Wednesday night. Unfortunately, it is likely too late in the game for that something to be a victory in a wellreasoned, substantive debat

So instead, when Fox News anchor Chris Wallace asked if Trump would honor the outcome of the election he said:

“I will tell you at the time. I will keep you in suspense.”

It was statements like that and others that detracted from the fact that Trump actually had a pretty good showing.

He tried to refocus the race on the issues for much of the 90-minute debate.

But where was this Trump three months ago?

“They came out with an anemic jobs report … and I said ‘is that the last jobs report before the election? Because, if it is, I should win easily,’ ” Trump said.

Perhaps that’d be true if Trump had been able to focus on economic policy. He didn’t even talk about his plan last night, but spent his chance talking about NATO. (For the record, Trump’s plan is to give massive tax cuts to corporations in the hope that it stimulates job growth).

Clinton didn’t really talk about her plan either, which would focus on a massive stimulus-like investment in infrastructure, but she did a good job casting doubt that Trump’s plan would do anything other than significantly cut revenue for the nation.

It’s likely too late for Trump to play the long game in this election and win by appealing to better policy and ideals.

Instead Trump said things like this: “You talk but you don’t get anything done, Hillary, just like when you ran the state department, $6 billion was missing.”

There was never $6 billion missing from the State Department. An audit did find deficiencies in accounting reports, but not $6 billion in missing funds. Why lie?

Clinton is already fairly disliked by the majority of Americans.

Heading into Wednesday’s debate in Las Vegas, an Economist/YouGov poll of 1,300 voters found 45 percent had a “very unfavorable” opinion of Clinton and 12 percent “somewhat unfavorable.”

Trump should have spent this campaign working on making himself likeable — in the same poll, an incredible 51 percent found Trump “very unfavorable” and 10 percent “somewhat unfavorable.”

Instead of talking about Bill Clinton’s infidelities, Trump should have talked about the relationship he has with his children. Instead of lashing out at a Gold Star family, he should have talked about Mike Pence’s son, a Marine, and applauded the sacrifice of service.

But instead he continued to lash out 20 days before Election Day.

Even when he’s winning on an issue, Trump can’t refrain from saying things that detract from his policy. “She’s a nasty woman,” Trump said over Clinton in the final moments of the debate.

Instead of talking about Bill Clinton’s infidelities, Trump should have talked about the relationship he has with his children. Instead of lashing out at a Gold Star family, he should have talked about Mike Pence’s son, a Marine, and applauded the sacrifice of service.