“How stupid is our country?”, Donald J. Trump. Funny he asks this during the debate because throughout the entirety of it I found myself asking this same question. How did we, America, make these two goons our candidates? Oh well, we’ll learn to work with what we have. If our country can still stand after two terms of George W. Bush, I’m sure we can make with either Trump or Clinton…right? I’m choosing to take the unconventional approach to write this paper, in hopes that this will be slightly more entertaining than the others read. In addition, due to my complete and utter dissatisfaction in what both candidates stand for, I have to find other aspects of the debates to watch and keep me entertained.
Honestly, I cannot say that I am a Presidential debate guru who knows proper etiquette of how these things are supposed to run but in addition to watching this debate, I watched some previous years to get a grasp on what the standards were and the first difference I noticed about this years were the split screens. The debates between Clinton and Trump are some of the first where instead of a wide view of both candidates, producers split the screens. Personally, I find this very entertaining because I love to see the facial expressions of the opposing candidate when the other makes any remark they deem unsuitable. Priceless. Unfortunately for Trump, unlike other debates, commentators are clearly #IStandWithHer supporters. They might as well have worn voting slips with Hillary’s name already written on them, the bias was that obvious. Sorry Trump, you’ll get em next time.
Also, I was unsure of the standard rules for sitting versus standing. Throughout the entire debate, Trump never sat. However, Hillary sat whenever she wasn’t talking. At first I assumed her feet just hurt, but then producers focused in on her shoes (mistake) and I noticed her heels were, at best, 1 ½ inches off of the ground, so that couldn’t be the case. Watching this debate tonight was like watching siblings rival with opposing political views. This idea of siblings fighting each other was not helped with the fact that Trump and Clinton had on matching navy blue suits. C’mon, did their stylists not alert each other of their outfits for tonight? Plus, how dare Hillary forget to wear her America flag pin tonight? Stylists, you need to get it together. The only thing helping these candidates right now are their outward appearances, and they both took tremendous loses in that aspect tonight.
Now I guess is when I’m supposed to subtly express my preference for president in an array of slight jabs at one candidate for you to figure out which one I like, Luckily, for you, I have no preference. My preference is so undetermined I’m not even registered to vote (Yes, my parents are disappointed, no this is not speeding up the process). However, I will comment on some unfair aspects towards both parties in this debate. I was highly upset with Trump’s disrespect towards Hillary with his unwillingness to address her by her first or last name. Trump constantly used pronouns such as “she” and “her” when directly addressing Hillary instead of using her formal name. I felt this was a way to assert his dominance over her and I was not happy with this. Focusing on the positives of Trump though, he did a great job of using his stage and engaging his audience. I was pleased to see him remain standing throughout the entire debate and walk around so that he could address all members of the audience, not just a specific person or section. In addition, go Trump for calling out the unfair bias of the commentators. After 1:11:17 Hillary had yet to be interrupted during her talk time, although she had gone over multiple times. But Trump was constantly interrupted and jabbed. Hillary, on the other hand, our seasoned veteran. If “politician” was searched in the dictionary, a photo of Hillary would show up. Why? She avoids answering questions like no other. I mean honestly, this annoying trait is almost admirable. Hillary’s capability to deflect and run around the topic she’s supposed to be talking about is so good she almost convinces you she answered the question. But, like Trump, Hillary deserves to be rewarded with a positive attribute about her, so I’ll give her this; Hillary has done an amazing job at finding a happy-medium between being assertive and remaining classy. Being a woman running for this election has undeniably brought upon scrutiny from viewers and I think that Hillary has done a good job at not giving them too much to scrutinize. But let’s be honest. Hillary and Donald are both still the worst and our country is doomed.
Any who, walking away from this debate I have learned four things; 1. Wearing heels under three inches is counterproductive. Sorry Clinton, but I need you to do better next time. 2. I need to get into contact with whomever spray tans Trump. The winter months are coming, my tan is fading and I’m tired of hearing about the negative effects of UV rays. 3. Always, always bring an extra outfit because there is nothing worse than twinning with your rival. Trust me, I know this situation all too well. Rylee bought the same homecoming dress as mine freshman year after she found out her ex-boyfriend was taking me to the dance. It wasn’t pretty. 4. America is doomed. Honestly, the idea of Kanye West being president comforts me more than the two choices we have now.