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

[KingSweden]

Both were subpar, but it was Trump who needed a game changer. Clinton by default

[Mr. Smith]

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.

No, he was a deranged, passive-aggressively angry psycho who could throw a good one-liner.

Whatever helps you sleep at night.

I don't sleep at night, and Hillary's meandering and thus indirectly bringing trump back up is only gonna make it worse.




@musicblind:

The debates usually are pointless, unless one candidate seriously flubs it bad or has really really low expectations but ends up sounding competent.

Besides Town Halls, they're just a bunch of two people press conferences anyway with little useful input because it's pet moderators, in which the "zinger" makes it work.

And even then, the sides usually stay entrenched anyway.

Trump tonight:

Split with Pence on Syria
Threatened to jail opponent
Admitted to paying no taxes

And people think he won?

Considering how long-winded to the point of seeming indecisive Hillary was, absolutely.

[Rules for me, but not for thee]

I would say it's 1-1. Trump won the first. Hillary won the second.

I would say the opposite. Clinton crushed him in the first debate. This was more even/slight Trump victory.

[Classic Conservative]

https://mobile.twitter.com/FrankLuntz/status/785308990003486721

[rafta_rafta]

Clinton wins. I had set a very low bar for Trump and all he gave were long rambling answers

[GeorgiaModerate]

It seems that Trump has stopped the hemorrhage with his performance tonight.

The post debate will show how effective he actually was.

He did drop a lot of controverial potentially damaging statements, which might come back and haunt him.

He had nothing to lose tonight and when you can't lose every performance seems like a win.

The flip side of this is that when you're behind and time is running out, then a draw is effectively a loss.  This was one of the few remaining opportunities for a significant game change, and that didn't happen (in either direction).

[DrScholl]

Clinton didn't need to scream and yell like Trump does, she showed up and did what she needed to do, which is being competent and knowledgeable.

[TarHeelDem]

I definitely felt like Clinton was playing it safe, but that's probably because she knows what's in the last few tapes. She'll go for the jugular in the final debate.

[Senator-elect Spark]

It's 1-1 now. Clinton won by a large margin in the 1st debate, Trump won the 2nd by a large margin.

[‼realJohnEwards‼]

Honestly, I think lying low was a bit of a strategic move for Clinton. The focus will be on Trump's remarks (the devil? really?), and if more pussygate-esque material drops, the media will have had some time to reset from the first time. Kind of like Mahler's "three blows of fate"

[Person Man]

I definitely felt like Clinton was playing it safe, but that's probably because she knows what's in the last few tapes. She'll go for the jugular in the final debate.

[Rocky Rockefeller]

I'm calling it 1C-0T-1 Tie

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Honestly, I think lying low was a bit of a strategic move for Clinton. The focus will be on Trump's remarks (the devil? really?), and if more pussygate-esque material drops, the media will have had some time to reset from the first time. Kind of like Mahler's "three blows of fate"

Nah. I honestly just think she didn't want to be there. The first part of the debate was draining, and Trump was so bad, and the focus of discussion was so disgusting that she got a bit demoralized. I certainly did.

[Clyde1998]

@BBCiPannell: "Wow - a gracious tone to a bitter and ugly #PresidentialDebate. Maybe the man who asked the question should be advising both"

@KattyKayBBC: "The risk for Trump tonight was total implosion and more desertions from Republicans - that didn't happen. In that sense, he won."

@BBCJamesCook: "Trump rambled. He said some extraordinary things. But he was tough & quick in debate and he survived 90 minutes that could have been fatal."

[Bojack Horseman]

This was a win for Clinton, albeit slightly narrower. Donald Trump offered nothing but verbal diarrhea and on top of that, bringing Clinton's former mistresses was a desperate, Hail Mary stunt. Unfortunately that's only analysis as an informed voter. The drooling idiots known as "undecided swing voters" have been pissed on tonight by Donald Trump, and they're probably lapping it up gladly and barking with delight.

[Devout Centrist]

This reminds me of the VP debate in '08. No implosion for Palin, but she lost.

[SPQR]

They are replaying his response to the PussyGate question...oh God.
"I will take care of ISIS"

[Warren 4 Secretary of Everything]

@BBCiPannell: "Wow - a gracious tone to a bitter and ugly #PresidentialDebate. Maybe the man who asked the question should be advising both"

@KattyKayBBC: "The risk for Trump tonight was total implosion and more desertions from Republicans - that didn't happen. In that sense, he won."

@BBCJamesCook: "Trump rambled. He said some extraordinary things. But he was tough & quick in debate and he survived 90 minutes that could have been fatal."

So what I'm getting from this is basically "Trump didn't sh**t on the stage, so he wins."

[rafta_rafta]

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

[yourelection]

An interesting perspective just stated on CNN: Hillary Clinton won because she lost tonights debate.

If Trump had completely unhinged in this debate the Republicans just might have abandoned Trump and put up a new candidate that just might have had a chance of winning the election after all.

*thinking and scratching head*

[Mr. Smith]

@BBCiPannell: "Wow - a gracious tone to a bitter and ugly #PresidentialDebate. Maybe the man who asked the question should be advising both"

@KattyKayBBC: "The risk for Trump tonight was total implosion and more desertions from Republicans - that didn't happen. In that sense, he won."

@BBCJamesCook: "Trump rambled. He said some extraordinary things. But he was tough & quick in debate and he survived 90 minutes that could have been fatal."

So what I'm getting from this is basically "Trump didn't sh**t on the stage, so he wins."

I rest my case.

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

When the other candidate is so far hated that it'd take the previous debate performance for them to admit that possibly the enemy has a higher moral ground and might be better.

[Mr. Smith]

An interesting perspective just stated on CNN: Hillary Clinton won because she lost tonights debate.

If Trump had completely unhinged in this debate the Republicans just might have abandoned Trump and put up a new candidate that just might have had a chance of winning the election after all.

*thinking and scratching head*

Grasping straws much CNN?

[‼realJohnEwards‼]

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

By  coming off as a "leader". That simple. OTOH he gave Clinton plenty of soundbites...

[GeorgiaModerate]

An interesting perspective just stated on CNN: Hillary Clinton won because she lost tonights debate.

If Trump had completely unhinged in this debate the Republicans just might have abandoned Trump and put up a new candidate that just might have had a chance of winning the election after all.

*thinking and scratching head*

That's an interesting thought.  Perhaps the Clinton camp is playing a very long game here and with a significant lead at present, they just wanted to hold the status quo for now, making it difficult for more Republicans to disassociate themselves from Trump.  Then they pull out the really devastating tapes in the final two weeks and drag down the down-ballot GOP candidates with Trump.

The Clinton camp is smart, but are they that smart?  I honestly can't decide.

[hurricanehink]

MSNBC: Kellyanne Conway says she's on the campaign until the end "Unless..." but later clarified it meant that she could plausibly step down if her family needs her. It was an exciting few seconds as the hosts debated whether it meant she was considering leaving if there were more tapes.