1st Presidential Debate (2016) thread

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the first presidential debate of 2016 between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, focusing on participants' reactions, opinions on the candidates' performances, and the implications for American politics. The scope includes commentary on debate strategies, candidate behavior, and the effectiveness of their messages.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Meta-discussion

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express excitement for the debate, comparing it to a major sporting event.
  • There are mixed opinions on Trump's demeanor, with some predicting he may act irrationally while others find humor in his comments.
  • Several participants criticize the debate format and the candidates' performances, suggesting that the debate felt more like entertainment than a serious political discussion.
  • Some argue that Hillary Clinton's strategy focused too much on contrasting herself with Trump rather than presenting her own message, leading to perceptions of her as uninspiring.
  • Others note that Trump's comments often included controversial statements that raised concerns about his temperament and understanding of international law.
  • There is discussion about the limitations of the two-party system in the U.S., with some participants advocating for third-party options while others express skepticism about their viability.
  • Some participants reflect on the broader implications of the candidates' performances for American democracy and the political landscape.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally express a lack of consensus on the effectiveness of the candidates' performances, with some believing Clinton performed better while others feel both candidates failed to deliver inspiring messages. The discussion also highlights differing views on the two-party system and the potential for third-party candidates.

Contextual Notes

Participants express various assumptions about the candidates' strategies and the implications of their performances, but these assumptions remain unresolved within the discussion.

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Tonight (as of the time of this post) is the first televised presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

Moderator: Lester Holt, Anchor, NBC Nightly News
Location: Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY

The first debate will be divided into six time segments of approximately 15 minutes each on major topics to be selected by the moderator and announced at least one week before the debate. The moderator will open each segment with a question, after which each candidate will have two minutes to respond. Candidates will then have an opportunity to respond to each other. The moderator will use the balance of the time in the segment for a deeper discussion of the topic.​

Try to keep comments at least somehow related to this particular debate.
 
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Greg Bernhardt said:
Getting my popcorn ready!

YUP!

treating this like the Super Bowl!
 
Who thinks Trump goes insane/childish vs. scholarly/intellectual tonight?
 
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I hope we hear a couple of these
 
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I like to keep a pile of balled up socks handy for these occasions so that I always have a projectile within reach to hurl at the TV screen whenever a candidate says something outlandish.
 
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Who else thinks this debate is a joke?

Hilary`s comeback was official. Book sales to dumb people...up, up and away lol
 
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RodP said:
Who else thinks this debate is a joke?

Hilary`s comeback was official. Book sales to dumb people...up, up and away lol
Trump is in it, how could it not be a joke?
 
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I ran out of socks already.
 
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  • #10
OMG, now he's calling the moderator a liar when the moderator has the stuff right in front of him

DELUSIONAL
 
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  • #11
Greg Bernhardt said:
Getting my popcorn ready!
Me too! What did you all think?
 
  • #12
I think Trump showed his true colors.

It's just so scary that there are so many clueless Americans that do not get how dangerous this is.

They seem to think it's some kind of joke to just shake things up and do not have the mental capacity to see how serious this really is.
 
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  • #13
Evo said:
OMG, now he's calling the moderator a liar when the moderator has the stuff right in front of him

DELUSIONAL
He also claimed he has a better temperament than Clinton.I swear, every time he said something I agreed with, he followed it with something crazy, such as "we should have taken all of the oil," which violates international law. Oops.
 
  • #14
Isaac0427 said:
Me too! What did you all think?
Felt like entertainment and that isn't a good thing.
 
  • #15
Liked what he said to Hillary, "excuse me", when he was talking and Hillary tried to get a word in. Then multiple moments where Hillary is talking and he starts talking over the top of her. Go Trump...

What else? Oh, not shutting up when time is up. And at the end Trump was rattling on about something, the moderator was saying he needed to move to the final question, gave Trump 10 secs to finish, but he went way above that. I was literally 'just mute his microphone!'
 
  • #16
I think Hillary won the debate (I know it's subjective). I'm not a supporter of her but she did a good job keeping cool and responded well to most accusations. Donald had some pretty funny comments though. Not sure if we should weigh that much on rhetoric during debates though, since what happens once the candidate is not running is way different from the debate and campaign rhetoric.
 
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  • #17
Ha Ha Ha.
Trump at around 24m.

"I'm a great believer in all forms of energy"
 
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  • #18
I feel really sorry for America. Yeah yeah, Hillary came of as the more rational person. But I think she did horrible. She made the debate around Trump. She hardly had a message of her own. She's uninspiring. The only message she has is "Oh look, Trump is much worse than me". And yeah, he is much worse than her. But if that is your main message (and face it, it was), then America has a real problem. I hope she can get enough people to go out and vote for her, since I would definitely not bother with the message she's been bringing.

It's clear who lost: America.
 
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  • #19
micromass said:
I feel really sorry for America. Yeah yeah, Hillary came of as the more rational person. But I think she did horrible. She made the debate around Trump. She hardly had a message of her own. She's uninspiring. The only message she has is "Oh look, Trump is much worse than me". And yeah, he is much worse than her. But if that is your main message (and face it, it was), then America has a real problem. I hope she can get enough people to go out and vote for her, since I would definitely not bother with the message she's been bringing.
Would it be more inspirational if she argued that we need to tear down the whole edifice?
 
  • #20
olivermsun said:
Would it be more inspirational if she argued that we need to tear down the whole edifice?

The only positive thing that she has is that she's not Trump. And she completely goes with that strategy. Anything would be more inspirational than that. Anything.
 
  • #21
micromass said:
The only positive thing that she has is that she's not Trump. And she completely goes with that strategy. Anything would be more inspirational than that. Anything.
Is the president's job to "inspire" or to keep a steady hand on the helm?
 
  • #22
olivermsun said:
Is the president's job to "inspire" or to keep a steady hand on the helm?

Both.
 
  • #23
Yeah, maybe Hillary can occupy half of the White house, and Don gets the other half.
It's big enough.
 
  • #24
rootone said:
Yeah, maybe Hillary can occupy half of the White house, and Don gets the other half.
It's big enough.

Or you guys can quit this silly notion of a two party system...
 
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  • #25
micromass said:
I feel really sorry for America. Yeah yeah, Hillary came of as the more rational person. But I think she did horrible. She made the debate around Trump. She hardly had a message of her own. She's uninspiring. The only message she has is "Oh look, Trump is much worse than me". And yeah, he is much worse than her. But if that is your main message (and face it, it was), then America has a real problem. I hope she can get enough people to go out and vote for her, since I would definitely not bother with the message she's been bringing.

It's clear who lost: America.
We have to deal with the hand we've been dealt, one seemingly crazy, one capable, but not well liked. So I will vote for the one not seemingly crazy
 
  • #26
Evo said:
We have to deal with the hand we've been dealt

Yep, this accurately describes the problem with American politics. You can have two awful insane candidates and you'll still vote for one of them.
 
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  • #27
There are third party choices in some states, but those don't seem very sane either.
There is an anti-science candidate and a borderline anarchist available.
 
  • #28
rootone said:
There are third party choices in some states,

Irrelevant. Media ignores them anyway. And if any good third party rises and gets enough votes, then it means that no candidate scores more than 50% of the electoral college, then the House of Representatives chooses the president. What a crazy system, it encourages a two party system very heavily.
 
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  • #29
micromass said:
Or you guys can quit this silly notion of a two party system...
There are pros and cons. On the pro side we only have to judge relative craziness along a continuum of two.
 
  • #30
olivermsun said:
There are pros and cons. On the pro side we only have to judge relative craziness along a continuum of two.

Yeah, if that's your main measure of this election (and it is!), then that shows the problem quite accurately.
 

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