By Matthew Pertz, Opinion Editor
This week saw the third and final presidential debate between our much maligned candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. The two heavily focused on debating policies instead of slapping insults on each other, sharply contrasting with their first two contests. Here’s a recap of how each involved party performed:
Hillary Clinton: B
The former First Lady proved her merit as one of the most talented debaters in recent memory. She brought to light Trump’s use of illegal Chinese steel to build his hotel in Las Vegas, only three miles from where the debate was held. At times she struggled to answer Chris Wallace’s tough follow-ups, namely concerning the national debt and her leaked position on open borders, but those were the only blemishes on an otherwise excellent debate. According to the New York Times, all current electoral models show Clinton with at least an 87% chance of winning the White House. After this debate, that number is bound to rise.
Donald Trump: C+
Trump saved his strongest performance for last, which is impressive until we remember how dreadful his first two debates went. It’s like he won an Olympic medal in the high jump for hopping over a credit card. The Republican nominee had several memorable lines, like asking of Clinton “Why don’t you return the money?” in regards to foreign donations the Clinton Foundation accepted from countries that don’t align with our values. But instead of leaving his great one-liners to marinate with the audience, Trump would babble on and nullify a once-strong point. The bottom line is this election would be a lot closer if Trump stopped tripping over his own shoelaces.
Clinton Campaign & Democratic Party: D
Unfortunately for Clinton, even if she wins in November scandals are bound to follow her to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The recent hacks of campaign chair John Podesta’s emails are hardly flattering. The Clinton camp still has a Nixonian penchant for shadowy manipulations, such as DNC chair and CNN contributor Donna Brazile leaking a CNN town hall question back to Clinton’s campaign.
Trump Campaign & Republican Party: C-
It’s hard to watch Team Trump try to mate their candidate’s statements with reality. Most recently, the candidate said he believed the election results would be “rigged,” leading his party to either question the integrity of our democracy or delegitimize their nominee. The campaign gains momentum from its two newest surrogates, Wikileaks and the Russian government, but things are not looking good for the Trump Train. Democrats are primed to win once solidly conservative states like Arizona, North Carolina and Iowa.
Chris Wallace: A
Wallace painted a journalistic masterpiece rivaling the stellar tag team of Cooper/Raddatz from the second debate. His questions made both candidates uncomfortable as he pushed for specific policy positions. His research was impeccable; each inquiry used some combination of quotes, statistics and historical context in order to lead each answer in a certain direction. But Wallace’s most impressive feat was somehow keeping Clinton and Trump (mostly) out of the mud and on topic despite the candidates’ aggressive instincts.
Voters: ?
The eleventh hour has come. Absentee ballots are out and early voting has started. Between today and Election Day, nearly 40 percent of Americans will mark their ballots. The two major candidates have spent a combined 32 months trying to win your vote. Between three debates and countless rallies, speeches and tweets, the American people are equipped with more information than they could ever remember on these two. There’s no tasks left for Clinton and Trump except watching to see who will win 270 electoral votes first.
