The Final Debate: To Accept or Not to Accept
Scrutinizing the head-on clash of Clinton and Trump in a debate viewed by 71.6 million people
By Peter Connolly
The Progressive Teen Staff Writer
THE DEBATE BEGAN ON AN UNDOUBTEDLY CORDIAL TONE. The two candidates for President of the United States did not shake hands, a sign foreshadowing the juvenile conflict to come. The debate drew the third-largest debate audience ever, and both Trump and Clinton realized that this was their last shot at persuading uncommitted voters.
The debate kicked off by addressing the first issue, the Supreme Court. Both candidates stated their parties’ principled opinions on abortion, gay marriage and the Second Amendment. During this segment, Hillary called for “marriage equality”, and Trump called the Second Amendment “under siege”. However, it became very personal when Hillary begin to make an impassioned defense of late-term abortions, calling it an “intimate decision” and citing medical reasons for such a late decision. In a disciplined approach, Trump stayed loyal to his conservative base, but horrifically described late-term abortions as “ripping the babies from their mother’s wombs”. Trump’s graphic description of such a delicate topic exemplified his unfitness for the presidency. He takes complex issues and views them through an overtly simplistic lens. Abortion is not a black or white issue; it’s a gray matter that can only be sustained with liberty.
When the debate shifted to immigration, Trump seemed to gain the upper hand — not only by ripping Hillary on her own immigration record, but by stating his concrete plan of a border wall. He resorted to his argument that she’d been working for 30 years with few solutions for solving illegal immigration. Trump utilized two strong examples by describing children of families that had been killed by illegal immigrants and also educating the audience about the poor legal immigrants that were being cut by these “border runners”. Hillary’s response on the moral issue of deportation was solid and eloquent, but one that had been used a lot in the past by many politicians on both sides of the aisle. Her response lacked the nuance that was essential to swing the undecided voters.
When Chris Wallace brought up the video in which Trump made lewd comments about groping women, as well as the mention of the nine women that had come forward with accusations of sexual assault, Trump called those reports “mostly debunked” and stated that those women were either looking for fame or being peddled by the Clinton campaign. However, Hillary had her strongest moment of the night here with a passionate and empathetic speech that appealed to women. She spoke of how Donald degraded a woman’s self-image by referencing the occasion in which he described that the women who accused him “wouldn’t be my first choice”. Surprisingly, Trump missed a great opportunity by choosing not to attack Bill Clinton’s past, despite the fact that Chris Wallace mentioned it in a question.
“She spoke of how Donald degraded a woman’s self-image by referencing the occasion in which he described that the women who accused him ‘wouldn’t be my first choice’”.
Chris Wallace seemed to nail Trump on the city of Aleppo, citing quotes of Trump calling the city “fallen” from past debates and explaining that 2.5 million people still lived there. Trump was stumped. He seemed confused on the definition of fallen and immediately became defensive. He said, “Have you seen the pictures? Have you been there?” as he described the city as one in ruins and disaster. Furthermore, as Trump explained his position on Foreign Hotspots, he tended to break away from his primary argument and criticize Hillary and Obama for negotiations like the Iran deal. In sharp contrast, Hillary seemed well-versed on the subject, firing back intelligent responses at every corner — especially on the issue of the no-fly zone over Aleppo, where she disagreed with the Obama administration.
The climax of the debate was when Chris Wallace cited the importance of a peaceful transfer of power and acceptance of the election results. He noted that Trump’s running mate, Governor Pence, and his campaign manager both said he would accept the results of the election. When asked if this was true in the debate, he said he would wait and see, attempting to hold the voters in suspense. This response was the final blow to his performance since it can be guaranteed that the clip will be played over and over, overshadowing pretty much everything else.
Both candidates made strong points and performed relatively well. Overall, however, Clinton prevailed. She hardly missed a beat with discussion of policy and had a professional and focused disposition, while Trump continually strayed from the question and disrespectfully interrupted his opponent. We can only hope that the American people keep an open mind and vote their conscience on November 8th.
