One speaks to our gut. The other speaks to our mind. Both are disliked by almost everyone. And yet, we have to choose one from these two candidates. Either way, America loses.
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Everything Trump says is a lie - including the words "and" and "the". When Lester Holt (the debate's moderator) tried to fact check Trump on a ridiculous claim, Trump shouted over him. Given Trump's style, he showed that he'd bully anyone, everyone, and anything that got in his way - including the truth. (Hillary tends to be more in touch with reality.) Sadly, Hillary didn't go in for the kill where Trump was weakest - his tax returns. It has been documented elsewhere that Trump is in bed with many unsavory characters, and she could have brought up the slavery in Dubai associated with one of Trump's partners. In short, she could have gone a little loose with the facts and played Trump's game by her rules.
Sadly, Hillary is too much of an intellectual type. She's the type of nerdy girl who tried to impress people when young by studying everything in the town library. She is a fountain of facts fighting a tiger of lies. If one listened to the debate, as I did, one would have noticed Trump shouting over Hillary at least 20 times. If Hillary had responded in the same way a man would, she would have seemed shrill and lost any of the gravitas she had. There is a double standard applied to women, and Hillary does not have the vocal tools which Maggie Thatcher used to beat men at their own game. (Over Thatcher's career, she gradually lowered her voice to take advantage of a human prejudice to assign gravitas to lower pitched voices.)
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Who won the debate?
If one listened to the debate and carefully parsed the questions and answers - Hillary. But that's too easy an answer. Trump was not preaching to the public. He was preaching to a base who already had their decisions made for them, and needed to avoid anything that smacked of defeat by a woman. And that he did with his visual image. He is a dominant, bullying male. He used all the key tools of an emotional abuser to dominate the moderator and to dominate Hillary. If you were already supporting Trump, you'd have said that he won - especially, since neither Hillary nor the moderator could talk over his shouting.
I'm very afraid here. Hillary needs better tools to use in her battles with Trump. I've said it many times - Hillary needs a gag writer. She needs appropriate insults she can throw at Trump and get the audience laughing at him. (The audiences are instructed not to applaud or make any other vocal comment during the debate.) If she can break that wall, Trump will lose, as he can't stand to be humiliated - especially by a woman.
Years ago, Charlie Chaplin said that he'd have never made "The Great Dictator" had he known how bad Hitler was. I am very thankful that Chaplin did make this movie, because he showed that humor was the one tool that can always be used to deflate the ego of a tyrant. Let's hope that the comics of today know that it is their turn to step up to the plate.
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