Last Monday’s Debate

One week ago the United States had its first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. I really didn’t want to watch it, but feeling some level of civic responsibility, I fired up my laptop and tuned in to the one of livestreams being broadcasted online, and watched two people who have no business being president try to convince the nation that they’re not as bad as their opponent. I confess that did not get through the whole thing. After some time I couldn’t take it anymore and closed my web browser, saddened at the thought that one of these two candidates will be our next president. Since I didn’t watch the whole debate, and given the fact that I’m not a skilled political analyst, rather than dissect the debate itself I wanted to write about what I saw in its immediate aftermath.

I knew what time the debate was scheduled to end, and about thirty minutes after that time I decided to go online and see what people were saying about it. As expected, social media was abuzz with friends of mine in both camps furiously liking and sharing articles that spun the night’s events in favor of their particular candidate. Clinton supporters emphasized some of her talking points and savagely dismissed anything Trump said. Trump supporters did much the same to Clinton. The only thing everyone could seem to agree on is that everyone hated the moderator, Lester Holt. This social media blitz continued into the next day, and if you only listed to social media you might have walked away confused about how the night played out. Thankfully I don’t rely on social media for news, and the day after the debate I made sure to read and listen to a few cooler heads to get some perspective. From their analysis, I get the impression that neither Trump of Clinton can claim a major victory from Monday’s debate, and I don’t think anyone who was undecided prior to the debate got much of a push in either direction. Trump supporters are still voting for Trump, Clinton supporters are still voting for Clinton, undecided voters are still scratching their heads, and people like myself who cannot stomach voting for either Trump or Clinton are still throwing away our votes with third party candidates. Much like the trench warfare of World War I, the debate on Monday and the ensuing online rhetoric saw a lot of sound and fury, but the line didn’t move very much.

It is now October, so we are less than two months away from the election. There are still two more presidential debates to go before then. I really don’t know if I’ll watch either of them, but I might check out the vice presidential debate scheduled for tomorrow. If so I may have something to say about it next week.