WEDNESDAY night’s debate between presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump was the last in this year’s election. A debate that was touted to be the most contentious was watched all over the world with an admixture of expectation and trepidation. This is the first of the three presidential debates in which moderator Chris Wallace of the conservative media outlet Fox News, won the accolades of fellow journalists across the ideological and political divides for asking both candidates tough questions, being able to control the debate and the audience in attendance. One of the things that stood out in this campaign is how personal it has become. Where it is customary to see the candidates greeting each other and shaking hands, before and after debates, this debate saw none of this.
To Trump’s credit, earlier he demonstrated some degree of restraint, presented the impression of preparedness and being into the event, though there may be different interpretations to him sipping water several times. There is no denying Clinton is a very skilled and consummate debater, which the polls confirmed for all three debates. Clinton has mastered the art of getting under Trump’s skin and having him acting out of character or some will say consistent with his character. An incident that will reverberate negatively is him calling Clinton “a nasty woman” in response to her baiting him by saying he may try to get out from paying social security.
That having been said, there are interest groups who felt the candidates failed to address important issues such as climate change. Both to varying degrees have represented their policy positions and though the debate was somewhat contentious, thankfully it was not a repeat of the previous. The election is not only unique, given who are on the tickets; the first woman of a major party and a billionaire businessman turned politician- but the unfavourable perception of both candidates by the electorate.
Though it can be argued that the media have played a role in shaping negative perceptions of Clinton, it cannot be ignored that to some extent she feeds the perception given the manner in which she deals with some issues such as the email scandal. This notwithstanding, Clinton is very knowledgeable and has a distinguished public service career spanning more than three decades. According to President Barack Obama, “I can say with confidence there has never been a man or a woman—not me, not Bill [Clinton], nobody—more qualified than Hillary Clinton to serve as president of the United States of America.” While some may see this as Obama moving to protect his legacy and there is no quarrel with that, others, including political rivals and newspapers that have historically endorsed republican candidates, having moved to support her have made similar remarks.
On Trump’s part his conduct, including negative allegations surrounding his business dealings, non-payment of federal taxes, refusal to release his income tax returns as customary with candidates, treatment of workers, women and other minorities, xenophobia, ignorance of governance and world affairs have led to a view in the U.S. and farther afield that as president, he would be dangerous for America and the world.
Yet in spite of the vast differences between the candidates, they share similarities with the high unfavourable ratings and tendency to be economical with the truth, as revealed by fact checkers, though correctly at times one can be more so than the other. And this may help to explain why Trump a non-politician was posing a threat to Clinton, who is seen as an establishment politician. It wasn’t until the scandal broke about his treatment and view of women that Clinton started significantly pulling ahead in the polls. There are three weeks remaining until elections. Though the polls presently are showing Clinton the clear front runner, the winner is not known until the electorate college votes tally at least the required 270 needed to declare the winner of the presidency. And Trump’s response at the debate that he will keep the society in “suspense” whether he will accept the 8th November results has created another maelstrom about disrespect for America’s democracy and misplaced allegations its elections have ever been rigged.