Hillary won last night, no question. She came out strong and finished strong. Trump sniffed and puffed, lied again about his opposition to the Iraq war, and couldn't find his way out of his lies like birtherism and why he's not releasing his taxes.
Most important, Hillary fought on ground of her own choosing and Trump was only dimly aware he was being screwed as he sniffed his way to the end.
A FEW HIGHLIGHTS:
Clinton said that Trump's criticized her for preparing for the debate, but you know what else she prepped for - Being President. Ka-Boom!
Trump: "I have a winning temperament"
BUSINESS: Hillary destroyed his "business record". Trump should say sorry to the thousands of workers he's stiffed over the years. His answer? "I think my strongest asset- maybe by far- is my temperament.(Laughter)
THE ECONOMY and Jobs: Hillary quoted an independent study that her plans would create 10 million new jobs and Trump would lose over 3 million. She wants to raise the minimum wage and mind the gender pay gap. Trump thinks the US is losing jobs to Mexico and China. Lester asked him how we should get those jobs back. And Trump basically said 'we're losing jobs to China and Mexico.'
TAXES: Hillary said the wealthy should pay their fair share. Trump said it was "smart" not to pay tax. She said, who is going to pay for schools, the military, the police?
Hillary smoothly presented policy details and deadly catch phrases — "Trumped-up trickle down" to describe his tax plan, for instance — and sowed doubts about the seriousness of Trump's proposals.
TaX RETURNS: Lester Holt asked Trump why he still hasn't released his. Trump lied and said he can only do it as soon as the IRS finished auditing him. Then Trump said he would release them if Hillary would release her emails. Holt: "So your decision is conditional". Zing! Hillary pointed out that Trump was lying about the audit and IRS said that is not a restriction on release. Then she went on to give three possible answers to the question: What's he hiding?
RACE: Trump proved he's a racist again when he replied, "I say nothing", to Holt when asked about racial healing and what he might say to Americans who found his continued claims that President Barack Obama was not born in the United States racist. Hillary: "He has a long record of engaging in racist behavior and the birther lie was a very hurtful one." That line drew loud applause in the hall.
ISIS: Trump pathetically said Clinton is showing her cards by telling ISIS how she'd fight them. Clinton said, 'I've shown you my plan, now show me yours.' He snapped "No wonder you've been fighting ISIS your entire adult life." Isis is less than a decade old. Oh.
Putin: Hillary highlighted his comments about Russian President Vladimir Putin to suggest that Trump does not understand the global threats the country faces.
GENDER: Gail Collins nailed it - when challenged on calling women such names as bimbos and fat pigs, (Hillary noted that he called Miss Universe, Alicia Machado, "Miss Piggy") the correct answer for Trump was to say he regretted it, and hoped he'd be a better example for his 10-year-old son. His actual response was to: 1) Claim that nobody likes Rosie O'Donnell; 2) Congratulate himself for not saying "something extremely rough to Hillary, to her family"; and 3) Point out that the polls are looking good.
Insulting Hillary as a Woman: "She doesn't have the look. . . . She doesn't have the stamina," Trump said. Clinton looked at him with a smile, laughing. "As soon as he travels to 112 countries, he can talk to me about stamina."(Applause)
At Hofstra University last night, Hillary showed Americans the same energy, passion, wisdom and compassion on display at the DNC in Philly in July. Polls in a week's time should show her more ahead -- four points at least -- with more and more of America's progressive leaders and voters coming out to campaign and canvass for her.
Let's get this thing done !
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Sept 27, 2016