Oh, wow, was this painful \u2014 especially as it startedout. \u00a0I cringed when Trump sniffled; the first time I could excuse this as an incipient cold, but now, it\u2019s got to be something else entirely. \u00a0A nervous tic? \u00a0And he rambled, and didn\u2019t answer the questions, and he aggressively interrupted Clinton, and just would not let the moderator move on to the next question<\/em>. \u00a0And his debate prep seemed to have consisted of half-memorized statistics, that he threw in whether they were on topic or not. \u00a0It was terrible, it was painful to watch. \u00a0And my husband observed, \u201che seems like he hasn\u2019t slept in days.\u201d<\/p>\n Of course, Hillary changed the subject when it suited her as well, but, my G_d<\/em>, at least she was a professional!<\/p>\n And what was up with that tie?<\/em>, too long, as if he made a mistake in tying it, and no one could tell him, and he couldn\u2019t adjust it before the filming started, and maybe he was too sleep-deprived to manage even this basic item.<\/p>\n So here are my notes, in the form of a live-blog, even though this was actually scrawled onto a notepad at the time, so please excuse any errors, and note that quotes are how I wrote them down, not guaranteed and sometimes paraphrased, and will likely differ from any official transcript:<\/p>\n Q1: \u00a0are \u00a0you modelling appropriate behavior for children when the accusations at the last debate were \u201cMA\u201d-rated?<\/strong><\/p>\n Clinton took that as, \u201cPlease make an opening statement,\u201d and she started with her opening statement, \u201cI will work with every American\u201d and I will \u201cheal our country.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump: \u00a0he started with \u201cI agree,\u201d and \u201cwhen I started this campaign, it was because of all of the foolish things that are happening in this country\u201d \u2013 and then he started rambling on about Obamacare, and the Iran deal, and on and on and make it stop! and he sniffled \u2013 give the man a tissue!<\/p>\n The moderator, follow-up, referencing the tape, \u201cyou bragged that you sexually assaulted women.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump: \u00a0I apologized, I\u2019m not proud of it, but when you\u2019re having horrible things happen and ISIS!, we need to talk about more important things.<\/p>\n Moderator: \u00a0do you deny having done the things you\u2019re on tape talking about?<\/p>\n Trump: Yes, I deny it.<\/p>\n Clinton: \u00a0Other candidates I have disagreed with, but Donald is the first one who is unfit to serve. \u00a0(Watch for it: memorized off-topic line here) \u00a0America already is great because America is good, we will respect each other and respect our diversity.<\/p>\n Trump: \u00a0it\u2019s just words. \u00a0(I think he meant to be claiming that he didn\u2019t actually do anything<\/em> and all it shows is that he made exaggerated, crude claims.)<\/p>\n Moderator: \u00a0cuts him off, asks, \u201cyou say you\u2019ve changed, but exactly how did your campaign change you?\u201d \u00a0Which was a bad question, but Trump could have used it as a springboard to a plug for his evangelical advisors, his faith, etc. \u00a0But he didn\u2019t. \u00a0Instead:<\/p>\n Trump: \u00a0I\u2019m not proud, but Bill Clinton was \u201cfar worse,\u201d and \u201cthere\u2019s never been anyone in the history of politics\u201d who treated women so badly. \u00a0And then he mentions the rapist of a 12 year old and claims HRC on tape as laughing about her success in getting him off.<\/p>\n Clinton: \u00a0Trump never apologizes \u2013 not to the Khans, not to the Mexican-ancestry judge, not to the reporter he mocked, not for the racist Birther lie.<\/p>\n Trump: \u00a0But Blumenthal started Birtherism, and something about Michelle Obama saying mean things about Clinton in 2008, and HRC should apologize for the 33,000 e-mails she deleted, and if I am elected, I will instruct the attorney general to name a special prosecutor for this case, and the 33,000 e-mails deleted after a supoena was issued.<\/p>\n HRC: \u00a0 everything he said is false, go to my website to see.<\/p>\n Moderator: speaking of e-mails, Comey said you were extremely careless.<\/p>\n HRC: \u00a0yes, I made a mistake and said I\u2019m sorry, but there\u2019s no proof that the server was hacked, and there\u2019s no proof that anyone got any classified e-mails.<\/p>\n Then Trump says something very goofy \u2014 why don\u2019t you ask her about the e-mails<\/em>, and the moderator says, I just did!<\/em><\/p>\n Next question \u2014 a policy question \u2014 yay! \u2013<\/p>\n Q2: \u00a0the Affordable Care Act isn\u2019t affordable; how will you fix it?<\/strong><\/p>\n Clinton: \u00a0I\u2019m going to fix it, I have a plan, but remember all the great things Obamacare does: \u00a020 million newly insured, no pre-existing condition restrictions, no lifetime maximum, no sex-differentiated premiums, defining \u201cadult\u201d as age 26; we need to get costs down but can\u2019t just start over.<\/p>\n Trump: \u00a0Great question; Obamacare is a disaster, and only getting worse, rates, deductibles going up. \u00a0The Democrats method of fixing it is to just spend more money, but we will get rid of the \u201clines\u201d that give insurance companies monopolies.<\/p>\n Moderator, to Clinton: \u00a0your husband said Obamacare is a disaster.<\/p>\n Clinton: \u00a0if we started over again, we\u2019d have a different system (does she mean single-payer?), but if we rip up Obamacare, the insurance companies would just start taking advantage of people again.<\/p>\n Moderator, to Trump: \u00a0how will you make insurance available?<\/p>\n Trump: \u00a0it\u2019s going to be cheaper because we\u2019ll have so much competition.<\/p>\n Moderator: \u00a0what about pre-existing conditons?<\/p>\n Trump: \u00a0[I have no idea what he meant to say here; it was garbled.] \u00a0And we are going to block-grant Medicaid.<\/p>\n Q3: \u00a0How will you help Muslims affected by Islamophobia?<\/strong><\/p>\n Trump: \u00a0in San Bernardino, people saw the bombs but didn\u2019t report it. \u00a0And we have to repeat the name Radical Islamic Terrorism over and over again.<\/p>\n Clinton: we have to be nice to Muslims so that we can defeat ISIS in coalition with Muslim countries.<\/p>\n Moderator: \u00a0In December, you called for moratorium, now Pence said that\u2019s no longer your position. \u00a0Explain.<\/p>\n Trump: \u00a0Khan is an American hero, and he wouldn\u2019t have died because I wouldn\u2019t have gone to Iraq. \u00a0And my ban is now an extreme vetting. \u00a0(Moderator claims he\u2019s not answering the question, when he actually is; perhaps she was just conditioned to expect differently.) \u00a0There are people coming into the country that we don\u2019t know anything about.<\/p>\n Moderator, to Clinton: \u00a0why bring so many refugees in if you can\u2019t vet?<\/p>\n Clinton: \u00a0because of the poor, suffering children. \u00a0We cannot ban people because of a religion (she didn\u2019t seem to recognize Trump\u2019s retraction just before), and this is the 10th or 12th time he\u2019s denied having supported the war but we can prove otherwise.<\/p>\n Trump: \u00a0We\u2019ve had criminals coming in who we can\u2019t deport. \u00a0(I think he was referring to the issue of criminal aliens whose home countries won\u2019t accept their return; the government is supposed to press, by refusing to issue visas for nationals of these countries, but instead just shrugs and releases them back into the US after they\u2019ve served their prison terms.) \u00a0\u201cWe are letting people into this country that are going to cause problems like you\u2019ve never seen.\u201d<\/p>\n Moderator, to Clinton, question submitted online: Wikileaks revealed that you said \u201cyou need both a public and private position,\u201d is it OK to be two-faced?<\/strong><\/p>\n Clinton: \u00a0I was really just talking about Lincoln\u2019s strategy as portrayed in the movie. \u00a0(No further interest in saying, \u201cof course, the policies that I\u2019ve advocated are what I really believe.\u201d) \u00a0Then she turns it around: \u00a0the Wikileaks leaks show that Putin is trying to influence the election, or, more specifically, trying to get Trump elected, and Trump should release his tax returns (that is, because of claims that this\u2019ll reveal secret business dealings with the Russkies).<\/p>\n Trump: \u00a0I don\u2019t know Putin, we don\u2019t know that it was Russia, she\u2019s just trying to tarnish me. \u00a0I don\u2019t have loans from Russia, and the feds wouldn\u2019t have selected me for the Old Post Office if there were problems with my balance sheet. \u00a0I also pay 100s of millions in taxes, and I took the same deductions as Soros and all her other billionaire donors.<\/p>\n New Q, asked by an \u201cundecided voter\u201d: \u00a0What tax provisions will you change to ensure wealthy Americans pay their fair share?<\/strong><\/p>\n Trump: \u00a0I\u2019d eliminate the carried interest provision. \u00a0Hillary didn\u2019t change this already because her wealthy friends benefit. \u00a0Then he lists the rest of his platform: \u00a0cutting corporate taxes from 35% to 15%, cutting taxes big league for the middle class, and claims that HRC will raise taxes for the middle class, and claims that \u201ctaxes are about the highest in the world.\u201d \u00a0(And, incidentally, I\u2019m not going to fact-check this right now, but one thing no one seems to mention is that you can\u2019t compare federal income tax rates and be done with it \u2014 every one else has a VAT, but they don\u2019t have the same kinds of local sales taxes and property taxes and state\/local income taxes as we do.)<\/p>\n Clinton: \u00a0Nothing Trump said is true, and he hasn\u2019t paid federal income taxes in 20 years, and would enact a massive tax cut for the wealthy and would raise taxes for the middle class. \u00a0In my plan, no one with income less than 200K would see a tax hike, there would be extra taxes for those earning > 500,000. \u00a0And did I mention that Trump paid $0, $0, $0, $0, and that\u2019s wrong.<\/p>\n Moderator: \u00a0viewers, the context is a report that Trump reported a 900 million loss. \u00a0Qustion, to Trump: \u00a0did you use the loss to avoid paying taxes?<\/p>\n Trump: \u00a0yes, but so did all of Clinton\u2019s mega-rich donors, which is why she didn\u2019t do anything about this already. \u00a0She has bad judgement: \u00a0look at Libya, Syria, Iraq.<\/p>\n Clinton: \u00a0I am in favor of getting rid of carried interest, but was powerless to do so as a Senator, because Bush would have vetoed. \u00a0And I have a 30 year record of doing great things, like the Children\u2019s Health Insurance Program and passing a law helping first responders, and a law that requires better dosing for children\u2019s medicines, and I advocated for women as Secretary of State and I co-sponsored 400 pieces of legislation (yeah, sure, insofar as any legislator can just attach their name to any piece of legislation and call themselves a \u201cco-sponsor\u201d), and I\u2019m bipartisan and have produced results.<\/p>\n New Q, from online, or maybe a voter at the town hall: \u00a0What would you do about Aleppo? \u00a0Is it like the Holocaust, and will the U.S. have waited too long?<\/strong><\/p>\n Clinton: \u00a0Russia is \u201call-in\u201d (and, by the way, he\u2019s supporting Trump), but I would stand up to Putin, and we need a no-fly zone (would she really shoot down Russian planes? \u00a0Really?)<\/p>\n Trump: \u00a0Obama\u2019s line in the sand was laughed at. \u00a0HRC talks tough, but the rebels end up being worse.<\/p>\n Moderator, to Trump: \u00a0What would you do about the humanitarian crisis? \u00a0Pence said we should bomb Syrian military targets.<\/p>\n Trump: \u00a0I disagree with Pence, we have to focus on ISIS, and can\u2019t get involved with Assad.<\/p>\n Mod: \u00a0and if Aleppo falls?<\/p>\n Trump: \u00a0It has basically fallen already. \u00a0(I assume this to mean that he thinks the \u201canswer,\u201d such as it is, to the crisis, is that when Assad\u2019s forces fully overrun Aleppo, the bombing will end.) \u00a0Then: \u00a0we should also have had a sneak attack on Mosul rather than announcing to them we\u2019d start fighting there.<\/p>\n Moderator: \u00a0Sometimes there are strategic, psychological reasons for announcing. \u00a0(This was odd \u2013 why did she jump in?)<\/p>\n Moderator, to HRC: \u00a0Would you use US forces against Assad?<\/p>\n HRC: \u00a0No, I wouldn\u2019t use ground troops. \u00a0Oh, except special forces, but they don\u2019t count (I guess).<\/p>\n Moderator pushes. \u00a0What then, specifically?<\/p>\n Clinton: \u00a0Well, I hope ISIS will be out of Iraq by the time I take office. \u00a0Oh, and I\u2019d consider arming the Kurds.<\/p>\n Q: \u00a0can you be a devoted president to all the people?<\/strong><\/p>\n Trump: \u00a0Yes, trade deals were bad for everybody and I\u2019d fix that. \u00a0The poverty rate for African-Americans in the inner city is 45%, and jobs are non-existent. \u00a0She\u2019s all talk and doesn\u2019t get it done. \u00a0(Frankly, this method of saying, \u201cshe hasn\u2019t gotten anything done,\u201d is a bit odd when it\u2019s not just a matter of foreign policy screw-ups while Secretary of State, but this claim that, as U.S. Senator or First Lady, she should have solved poverty in Detroit by now. \u00a0You\u2019d think that he\u2019d at least have the sense to say that \u201cher party\u201d hasn\u2019t gotten it done, but I guess Trump is too focused on the personal to do that.)<\/p>\n Clinton: \u00a0I\u2019m proud that I was re-elected with a 67% margin. \u00a0I have tried to help children and families my entire life. \u00a0And \u201cmany people are worried they won\u2019t have a place in Donald Trump\u2019s America.\u201d \u00a0Fear, bullying is up, the \u201cTrump effect.\u201d<\/p>\n Moderator: you called half of Trump\u2019s supporters \u201cdeplorables\u201d\u2013 how can you unite a country if you call them deplorable?<\/p>\n Clinton: \u00a0I said I was sorry. \u00a0And by the way, Trump has said mean things.<\/p>\n Trump: \u00a0HRC \u201chas hate in her heart.\u201d \u00a0She\u2019s called people \u201cirredeemable.\u201d<\/p>\n Moderator: \u00a0Donald Trump\u2019s business advice is \u201cthe most important characteristic is discipline.\u201d \u00a0Is your 3 AM tweet reflective of the discipline of a good leader?<\/p>\n Trump: \u00a0Tweeting is a modern form of communication. \u00a0And, by the way, Clinton had a \u201c3 AM call\u201d in Benghazi, when she ignored 600 calls for help, and only responded to Blumenthal.<\/p>\n Clinton: \u00a0No, Trump doesn\u2019t have discipline. \u00a0Then she jumps into some off-topic self-praise, that her husband created a surplus as president.<\/p>\n New Q: \u00a0What are the most important aspects for a Supreme Court justice?<\/strong><\/p>\n Clinton: \u00a0to have \u201creal-life experience\u201d and \u201cunderstand what people are up against.\u201d \u00a0Then she lists litmus tests: \u00a0reverse Citizens United, support Roe v. Wade and marriage equality; change balance of court against corporate balance.<\/p>\n Trump: \u00a0I would appoint the reincarnations of Scalia. \u00a0Also, I am spending my own money, so that I am less obligated to other donors as I would otherwise be; Clinton has tons of money, so she should do this, too.<\/p>\n Q: \u00a0boring question on energy policy that I won\u2019t further describe.<\/strong><\/p>\n Final question: \u00a0name something you respect about your opponent.<\/strong><\/p>\n Clinton: \u00a0I respect his children (first this seems like a way of avoiding saying something nice about Trump; but then:) it says a lot about him.<\/p>\n Trump: \u00a0She doesn\u2019t quit, she doesn\u2019t give up, she\u2019s a fighter.<\/p>\n And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the end of the town hall-style debate.<\/p>\n But these notes don\u2019t really give you the full picture.<\/p>\n It was extremely painful to watch Trump \u2014 not just the sniffling, but, what\u2019s worse, always having to respond, never just letting something be, talking past the moderator as she says, \u201cit\u2019s time to move on.\u201d \u00a0Repeatedly. \u00a0And not in a \u201cwait \u2013 she said something scurrilous that I have to reply to\u201d manner, but just because he seemed incapable of letting it go, and recognizing that he simply can\u2019t always have the last word in this forum.<\/p>\n Both of them had their moments of \u201cI said I was sorry, can\u2019t you just shut up about it already?\u201d \u2014 Trump regarding the taped comments, Clinton regarding the e-mails and the \u201cdeplorables\u201d comment. \u00a0Both had their non-sequitors: \u00a0Clinton deflecting to the Russians, and Trump to ISIS. \u00a0Trump\u2019s game of saying, \u201cHillary\u2019s had 30 years to fix X\u201d is exceedingly strange. \u00a0And there were so many times when I wanted to say, \u201cMake it stop! \u00a0Please make it stop!\u201d and was very tempted to walk away.<\/p>\n And if this was supposed to be Trump\u2019s moment to show everyone questioning their support for him that we as up to the task, well, he failed, big league.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Oh, wow, was this painful \u2014 especially as it startedout. \u00a0I cringed when Trump sniffled; the first time I could excuse this as an incipient cold, but now, it\u2019s got to be something else entirely. \u00a0A nervous tic? \u00a0And he rambled, and didn\u2019t answer the questions, and he aggressively interrupted Clinton, and just would not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[374],"tags":[442,229,325],"class_list":["post-5468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-election-2016","tag-hillary-clinton","tag-trump"],"yoast_head":"\n