Sept. 26 was a greatly anticipated day as citizens huddled around their televisions to watch the first presidential debate of the 2016 election. It is safe to say that no matter which candidate you are voting for, both had at least one great response or point. However, who really won this first round? Who had the most impact in the polls when all was said and done?
Hillary Clinton opened with a somewhat canned, emotional appeal stating that it was her “granddaughter's birthday” when asked about how she will provide jobs for the American people. She “thinks about this a lot,” she claims, as she went on to say how she will raise minimum wages, provide affordable childcare, and debt free college. She plans to make the wealthy “pay their fair share” in order to benefit the economy.
In response, Trump provided insight as to how and why Americans are losing jobs and money. He claimed that many jobs and companies were leaving the United States for other countries, resulting in the loss of employment for American workers.
In the beginning, both candidates provided a well thought out, collected response to the first question. Both Clinton and Trump seemed to have a strong opening. However, things became quite messy throughout the rest of the debate as the Clinton email controversy, the Iraq War, tax audits, concern regarding nuclear weapons, and several personal attacks ensued.
What I personally found to be the most disturbing was the interruptions on Trump’s side and the excessive use of forcefully relevant jargon on Clinton’s end. Each time Clinton appeared to be losing her footing to her opponent, she responded with catchy phrases such as “Trumped up” which was a response to Trump’s “poor” strategies for providing jobs. Several other phrases were exhausted which felt forced and inauthentic; another way of appealing to a younger audience. Needless to say, it was a failed tactic on Clinton’s behalf.
The other part that I mentioned was the fact that Trump repeatedly interrupted Secretary Clinton when it was not his turn to speak. The first few moments were not as bad, but later on the interrupting became much too excessive. Trump definitely did not do himself any favors by speaking out of turn, it was just too much. Although he relies on his “off the cuff” and often brazen speaking tactics, simply remaining in turn would have proven to be much more beneficial.
Another disappointment was the fact that Benghazi was not mentioned and how bias the moderator seemed towards Hillary. Not only that, but the Clinton email scandal was only briefly mentioned. This was probably due to the fact that Hillary ended up completely contradicting herself when it came to the topic of cyber security. Don’t get me wrong, Trump definitely had his fair share of contradictions and somewhat inaccurate facts, but how unapologetic and unaccountable Clinton is being held for the scandal is astounding.
Overall, it appears that the polls are in Hillary’s favor as of right now since the debate. Her composure and well thought out responses were most likely what benefited her the most in my own opinion. For the next debate, I would hope that Donald Trump remains more calm and is better prepared as preparation and countenance are without a doubt extremely important. Especially since these debates are the last chance for the candidates to prove why they should be president over their opponent.
