Veteran Clinton uses jibes and hold on policy to school Trump
ANALYSIS and invite voters who aren’t already committed to come along for the ride.
Instead, Trump flinched under Hillary Clinton’s tough criticism.
Worse, he made off-the-cuff remarks that lent credibility to her critiques of him. He defended saying the housing crash was a good business opportunity. He said that not paying federal income taxes “makes me smart”. He insisted that not paying contractors according their contracts was another business decision.
He insisted over and over that he had not said things about women and the Iraq war that, due to millions of dollars of ads aired already in this campaign, American voters have already seen and heard him say.
He also did little to prosecute his case against Clinton. He did hit her repeatedly for being part of the political status quo. But her biggest liability — the fact that a majority of voters don’t trust her — went almost unmentioned.
Another negative for Clinton, her use of a private email system while secretary of State, was barely touched. When Trump did bring it up, it was as an attempt to change the subject from his unreleased income tax returns.
Clinton, for her part, offered a more thorough explanation of what her presidency would entail, ticking off multi-part plans for improving the economy and race relations and fighting terror at home and abroad. But she also needled Trump on both policy and personal matters.
Business practices
Early on, in a segment about the economy, she said Trump’s business empire had been salted with $14 million (Dh51 million at today’s rates) from his father And — particularly when the debate turned to Trump’s past references to women, Latinos and African-Americans — Clinton laid the groundwork for improvement among voter groups that she needs in order to gain the White House on November 8.
The debate, the first of three meetings within the next month, occurred as a host of national surveys showed Clinton and Trump locked in an extremely tight race. Clinton has held on to an edge in the low single digits nationally, but Trump has mounted a surge in the battleground states that will decide the winner in November. Trump has two more debates in which he can attempt to broaden beyond his supporters.