Clinton soars after debate, goes on attack
A day after their first debate, Hillary Clinton launches a new offensive against GOP foe Donald Trump, while the latter passes out blame for his unsteady performance.
Hillary Clinton moved to capitalize Tuesday on a sharp-edged debate performance that exposed vulnerabilities for Donald Trump, excoriating his values and character in an effort to expand her coalition of women, minorities and young voters.
Trump, meanwhile, scrambled to move his campaign forward. While the Republican nominee insisted that he was not unnerved, he and his advisers grasped at excuses to explain why he did not perform better at the first presidential debate Monday night.
‘Clear differences’
Trump on Tuesday was unrepentant and eager to defend his past, denigrating a former beauty pageant winner whom he targeted as his latest foil and vowing to attack Clinton over her husband’s marital infidelities in their next showdown.
In a country divided over two historically unpopular candidates, Trump’s turn is unlikely to shake his core support. But Democrats said they felt assured that Trump’s hot temperament, scattered demeanor and series of statements that left him exposed to further scrutiny would make it increasingly difficult for him to win over the undecided voters he has been courting, especially moderate white women.
“I look back as a former practitioner and say, ‘Is there anything Donald Trump did to convince somebody who wasn’t in his column to be for him?’ ” said David Plouffe, President Barack Obama’s former campaign manager. “I have a hard time thinking there’s many of those people. I don’t think he lost anybody. But that’s not his challenge now. He’s got to add.”
Clinton was ebullient as she returned to the campaign trail Tuesday in Raleigh, N.C., and strove to keep alive the controversies that marred Trump’s debate performance.
“The real point is about temperament and fitness and qualification to hold the most important, hardest job in the world, and I think people saw last night some very clear differences between us,” Clinton told reporters aboard her campaign plane en route to North Carolina.
Trump did little to change the subject. In a Tuesday morning interview on Fox News Channel, Trump said debate moderator Lester Holt, the anchor of “NBC Nightly News,” was biased, and the Republican complained about the quality of his microphone. Clinton jabbed him for that, telling reporters, “Anybody who complains about the microphone is not having a good night.” ‘Spirited argument’
Few of Trump’s supporters went so far as to crown him the victor. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, who has been a weather vane for the Republican leadership during this election season, was supportive though muted at a Tuesday news conference. He told reporters Trump gave a “unique, Donald Trump response to the status quo.”
“I think he gave a spirited argument,” Ryan said, “and I think he passed a number of thresholds.”
Trump’s backers insisted that the debate would not damage his standing in the close race with Clinton. It will take several days before the political impact of Monday’s debate becomes clear, but many Republicans said they were bracing for Clinton to get a bump in the polls. An estimated 81 million people watched the clash at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, making it the most-watched presidential debate in history.