The First Debate

I watched about half of the debate.  I'd say Hillary was far more disciplined and prepared.  She landed some good points on Trump.  Clearly, the tax returns issue was gold for her as he started riffing about his taxes and building values and other stuff that in no way advanced the debate; it was defense or pointless rambling, you choose.  Trump landed some good points with regard to Hillary having been in public life for 30 years and only now is she going to fix things.  Her argument that we are on the cusp of real recovery with lots of jobs and rising incomes if we just stay on the current path was weak sauce.  Trump tried to tie her to Obama's policies, especially TPP, but she generally dodged that without being forced to criticize Obama; that in itself was good strategy on her part and again showed that Trump needs more practice at debating.

 

Trump came off as a protectionist.  He is unhappy with NAFTA - calling it the worst deal ever - and says TPP is almost as bad.  He wants to levy a tax on imports (that would be called a tariff, by the way) and renegotiate trade deals.  Reminded me a bit of Pat Buchanan.  To the good, he wants to reduce regulations and taxes.  Clearly, if we couldn't reach 3% growth for even 1 quarter out of the last 7 and a half years while driving up the debt by nearly $10 trillion, the government isn't doing a better job of spending that money than private people would have.

 

Hillary had a tough row to hoe on her side.  She offered the same policy prescriptions as Obama did 8 years ago.  We have 8 years of results which are not great.  After all these years, it is still the Bush economy to hear her tell it.  If she wins, is she inheriting the Bush economy or the Obama economy?  I am astonished she rolled out the 'rich need to pay their fair share' bromide.  Always the answer is to tax the rich.  Again, we've just had 8 years of her policies and, though better than the trough of the Great Recession, it is below average.

 

Though I read that some rated it a draw, I would give Hillary the edge for the first debate.  Her discipline did her great credit.  Trump needed to stay on message and not drift.  Also, he need to trust the audience more.  There was too much repetition.  This is going to get replayed ad nausea for the next several days; it is better to say it just once and let the media replay it for you.  He is too used to playing a crowd rather than engaging in a back and forth debate.

 

If I get around to watching the second half, I may offer revisions.