Commentators Give Hillary Clinton Edge in Debate
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http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/28/us/politics/who-won-the-debate.html Version 1 of 2. In the first showdown between Hillary Clinton and Donald J. Trump, the presidential candidates exchanged blows on trade and foreign policy, called each other racist and inept, and could not resist letting out stray smirks or occasional sniffles. Commentators across the web on Monday night tended to conclude that their favored candidate had come out on top. But on balance, Mrs. Clinton was seen as having had the better night, based on the contrast between her steady grasp of policy and Mr. Trump’s tendency to ramble and occasionally raise his voice. Here is a sample of reaction on social media and elsewhere online: “Clinton was in command from beginning, succeeded where Trump’s GOP opponents failed: remain unflappable and in control of arguments. No knockout blow but Clinton won this debate hands down. Trump struggled with format, duration, and facts and rambled.” Kim Ghattas, BBC correspondent _____ “Great that debate covered Trump’s taxes, income, father, ’72 lawsuit, remarks as a reality TV star and didn’t waste any time on immigration.” Ann Coulter, conservative author and commentator _____ “Hillary Clinton has had the best debate training I’ve seen in years. She knows when to attack and when to explain.” Frank Luntz, Republican pollster _____ “Trump was completely out of his league, reduced at times to going on and on, repeating his same talking points with little in the way of demonstrated knowledge or detail. He missed several opportunities to pin Clinton down on issues she has prevaricated about because he became flustered and lost his focus, forgot why he was there.” Ruth Sherman, public speaking expert _____ “Bottom line: Trump was doing pretty well for the first fifteen minutes, then Hillary went on the offensive, and Trump choked.” William Kristol, editor of the conservative magazine The Weekly Standard _____ “First half: Donald Trump. Second half: Hillary Clinton. OT: Donald Trump. I think he gets a bump UNLESS birther issue drowns out all.” Hugh Hewitt, conservative radio host _____ “Good news for Democrats: Really hard to see how that debate helped Trump. Bad news: If it somehow did help Trump, maybe no stopping him?” Nate Silver, editor of FiveThirtyEight _____ “Hillary won this debate, hands-down.” DeRay Mckesson, Black Lives Matter activist _____ “The energy that Donald Trump offered tonight is why the enthusiasm is on our side. The American people are ready for solutions, and Donald Trump offers a chance to move in a new direction.” Paul D. Ryan, House speaker _____ “The evolution of Trump in this debate was everything. He started with policy and ended with “NOT NICE!” Simone Sebastian, editor for The Washington Post’s Wonkblog _____ “Hillary Clinton belongs in the White House. Donald Trump belongs on my show.” Jerry Springer, host of “The Jerry Springer Show” _____ “Quick reminder: Y’all think Hillary is slaying, but the idiotic majority in this country definitely think Donald is KILLING IT.” Ashley Hesseltine, comedian and fashion blogger |