Washington University POTUS debate at 9pm ET **live commentary thread**

[Arbitrage1980]

I'm anti-Trump, but he's KILLING it. Wow. He's pulling off a Reagan 1980.

[Arbitrage1980]

I'm anti-Trump, but he's KILLING it. Wow. He's pulling off a Reagan 1980.

I watched that debate when it happened, and no he isn't, by a long shot.  He's only looking better this time because he had such a low bar of expectations after his first performance. 

Reagan 1980 was seen as unstable and dangerous, and he came across as calm and presidential. Trump's demeanor is the right mix of calm, deliberate, and aggressive. He is pounding Clinton on policy and her record. Wow.

[Arbitrage1980]

Trump is doing horribly.

He has committed the following MAJOR no-nos.

1.) He has poor blocking.

2.) He has made false statements multiple times.

3.) He has argued with the moderators.

4.) He has used the Tu Quequo argumentative fallacy.

5.) He has interrupted Clinton far more than she has him (Tim Kaine's biggest downfall)

6.) He admitted to not paying any federal income taxes.

7.) He has said he disagrees with his own running mate.

8.) He brought this into the gutter with the Bill Clinton claims. He was warned not to, but did.

9.) He has brought up LITERAL conspiracy theories.

10.) He called his candidate THE DEVIL. WTF?


All of the above are FACTS. How can anyone on here pretend that he is winning the debate?

Voters don't care about policy specifics. They are moved by demeanor, tone, dominance, one-liners, and overall effectiveness. Trump has been on-point in slamming Hillary with regards to her corruption, e-mails, lies, and failed record.

[Arbitrage1980]

Im sorry, who the hell thinks Trump is doing better? Hillary is slightly off her game but Trump is just as terrible.

And that's all it'll take.

I'm anti-Trump, but he's KILLING it. Wow. He's pulling off a Reagan 1980.

I watched that debate when it happened, and no he isn't, by a long shot.  He's only looking better this time because he had such a low bar of expectations after his first performance.  

Reagan 1980 was seen as unstable and dangerous, and he came across as calm and presidential. Trump's demeanor is the right mix of calm, deliberate, and aggressive. He is pounding Clinton on policy and her record. Wow.

Just delete your account.

Why? He ain't wrong.

Trump is nowhere close to being Reagan. Reagan was not a deranged, angry psycho on cocaine.

I never said Trump was the next Reagan. I said his debate performance tonight is similar to Reagan 1980 debate against Carter in that both men were regarded as dangerous, volatile, and unstable, and exceeded expectations.

For the record, I'm a staunch anti-Trump conservative, so I'm not trolling for trump.

[Arbitrage1980]

Trump is doing horribly.

He has committed the following MAJOR no-nos.

1.) He has poor blocking.

2.) He has made false statements multiple times.

3.) He has argued with the moderators.

4.) He has used the Tu Quequo argumentative fallacy.

5.) He has interrupted Clinton far more than she has him (Tim Kaine's biggest downfall)

6.) He admitted to not paying any federal income taxes.

7.) He has said he disagrees with his own running mate.

8.) He brought this into the gutter with the Bill Clinton claims. He was warned not to, but did.

9.) He has brought up LITERAL conspiracy theories.

10.) He called his candidate THE DEVIL. WTF?


All of the above are FACTS. How can anyone on here pretend that he is winning the debate?

Voters don't care about policy specifics. They are moved by demeanor, tone, dominance, one-liners, and overall effectiveness. Trump has been on-point in slamming Hillary with regards to her corruption, e-mails, lies, and failed record.

Then what is the point of a debate? Why not just let each of them give a broadcasted stump speech?

As I type this, Trump used a moral equivalence argumentative fallacy. What good is a "one liner" if it uses argumentative fallacies that they teach you in competitive debate coaching?

You want the person who remains the calmest, most professional, and makes the clearest arguments without committing fallacies.

And Trump has CONSTANTLY used emotive language, which is another fallacy. Though both of them have used appeal to emotion.

The American people are SMART. They want smart candidates.

The American people are actually pretty dumb. Let's be honest about this. Most Americans cannot answer basic questions about our history, government, politics, geography. We are a nation of social media, dumb mindless entertainment, celebrity gossip, and faux outrage. I love this country, but let's not pretend we are ancient Greece of Aristotle.

[Arbitrage1980]

How can a man win without being able to stitch together a single coherent thought in an answer.

Those of us who post here are relatively intelligent, knowledgeable, and well-educated. The VAST majority of the American voters are not. They are swayed by emotion, nonverbal gestures, one-liners, and overall tone. In those areas, Trump did well tonight. Undecided voters don't care whether Trump's tax policy did not add up.

If policy knowledge was what moved the election, Al Gore would have been President.