Who won the Vegas debate?

Gerald F. Seib, The Wall Street Journal: “It looked for a while Wednesday night, at the final presidential debate, as if Donald Trump was going to be a more sedate and demure candidate, the one who calmly explains his positions without engaging in verbal fisticuffs. Then his favorite topic — building a wall to stop illegal immigration across the southern border — came up, and Hillary Clinton said Trump met Mexico’s president and failed to repeat face- to- face his demand that Mexico pay for building that wall. ‘ He choked,’ she said. At that point, the tenor of the evening changed. ... The downward spiral continued until Trump said Clinton shouldn’t even have been allowed to run — and then, stunningly, refused to say he would honor the results of the election. ‘ What I’m saying, I will tell you at the time,’ he said. ‘ I will keep you in suspense.’ That is unprecedented, and will be the answer for which this debate will be remembered.”

Hadas Gold, Politico: “Wednesday night was a big moment for Fox News. It’s the first time an anchor from Fox has been chosen by the Commission on Presidential Debates to moderate a general election debate. And it is fitting, perhaps, that the final debate in an unprecedentedly contentious and dirty election is being moderated by Fox anchor Chris Wallace, who enjoys the reputation of a credible journalist even among many of those who point to Fox News as a facilitator of the election’s unprecedented tone. ... Mike McCurry, co- chair of the commission, told Politico Wallace was chosen simply because he has demonstrated he’s a good debate moderator.”

Meghan McCain, Twitter: “Chris Wallace is the real winner of this debate. America is the loser. At least this one was substantive and stayed on topic.”

Howard Kurtz, Fox News: “Trump had his strongest debate performance here in Las Vegas, and Clinton had to deal with probing questions about WikiLeaks disclosures, lateterm abortion and open borders. In the end they were evenly matched, an outcome that favors Trump as the less experienced debater. But the 90 minutes moderated by Chris Wallace did little to change the dynamic of a race in which the Republican nominee is trailing.”

Chris Cillizza, The Washington Post: “This was ( Clinton’s) best debate performance. She finally figured the right calibration of ignoring and engaging Trump. … Top to bottom, this was Trump’s most consistent and best debate. But it wasn’t a good debate for him. Not at all. His signature moment — and the defining moment of the entire debate — came when he refused to say he would concede if the elections results showed he had lost. Trump’s I’ll- just- wait- and- see answer was a total disaster and will be the only thing people are talking about coming out of the debate.”

Windsor Mann, editor of The Quotable Hitchens: “Clinton has convinced more voters that Trump is temperamentally unfit to be president. Trump, meanwhile, has released an ad about Clinton’s ( lack of ) ‘ stamina,’ raising questions about whether she is physically fit to be president. Rather than quell these concerns about her health, Clinton should embrace them. ... In a normal election, being old and sick are not desirable attributes in a candidate. But this is not a normal election. The prospect of having Clinton in the White House distresses many Americans, even those who are inclined to support her. ( Only 33% of her supporters are ‘ very enthusiastic’ about her.) However, the prospect of having her in the White House becomes more tolerable if she won’t be there for long. People are more apt to vote for her if they think the consequences of doing so will be ephemeral.”

Peggy Drexler, CNN: “In an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Melania Trump came out in staunch defense of her husband ... telling Cooper that the women who had accused Trump of groping them were lying, and that he had been ‘ egged on’ by ex- Access Hollywood host Billy Bush ‘ to say dirty and bad stuff.’ ... At this point in any presidential race, but perhaps this one in particular, it’s not unusual for the candidates and their team — and their spouses ... to stay the course. ... Although Melania spoke on behalf of her husband, it’s notable that she did so a mere 48 hours before the final debate — and on her own, without him by her side.”

Kathleen Parker, The Washington Post: “USA TODAY revealed Tuesday that at least a dozen companies that lobbied the Clinton State Department also gave up to $ 16 million to Clinton charities. At least four of the lobbyists employed by these companies have also raised at least $ 100,000 each for Clinton’s White House bid. The latter apparently is legal, while the former is still being investigated. But like Trump’s legal, if often shady, dealings, some of Clinton’s associations and loyalist interventions carry an odoriferous whiff. These sorts of high- level maneuverings are, besides, the provenance only of the wealthy and powerful — and would at any other time in modern history leave most Americans cold.”

Jeremy Lott, author: “I’m sick of being told whom to vote for. ... This year, America’s twoparty system has failed us as never before. We have two candidates who are unpopular and riddled with scandals. They don’t just have skeletons in their closets. They have graveyards packed in there. ... Millions of us don’t want to vote for either of these choices. In a truly free country, we should feel free to do exactly what we want with our votes. It is our right, our choice and, ultimately, our independence.”