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The real losers of the debate are the American people

Clinton is winning, and even if she perhaps didn't 'wow' undecided voters.

In a sadly predictable outcome, the millions of people who tuned into the American presidential debate hoping for a sensible policy discussion were instead faced with an unprecedented 90-minute barrage of non-stop insults, accusations and conversational pivots.
For Donald Trump, the debate came at a particularly difficult moment, with dozens of senior Republicans abandoning him following the release of inappropriate (to put it mildly) remarks recorded in 2005.
In what has become a trademark tactic of the Trump campaign, he repeatedly dismissed the remarks as "locker room" talk, refused to apologize, and deflected attention by attacking Clinton's husband.
"If you look at Bill Clinton, mine were words and his were actions," Trump said, referring to various allegations made by women against the former president. "There's never been anybody in the history of politics in this nation that's been so abusive to women."
Clinton - smartly - refused to take the bait, instead invoking Michelle Obama's "when they go low, you go high" maxim.
The hostile exchange set the tone for the rest of the evening, in which an increasingly irritated Trump paced the stage like a caged animal, bombarding Clinton with attack after attack. Clinton, for her part, responded by taking a condescending tone and addressing the audience rather than her opponent. But, at least she uttered statements that vaguely resembled coherent policy positions - something that cannot be said for The Donald.
The most remembered moment of the debate will, without a doubt, be Trump's pledge that if he were in charge Clinton "would be in jail" for her use of a private e-mail server.
Many analysts quickly jumped on the comment, which CNN commentator Van Jones rightly called a "new low" in American democracy. Others compared him to vindictive foreign dictators.
But while sensible spectators will correctly see his threat as an insult to American democracy and due process, such comments are music to the ears of Trump's supporters. They are, after all, prone to breaking out into frantic chants of "lock her up" at campaign events.
While seemingly erratic and lacking any real substance, Trump's attacks - whether they be about the e-mail servers, Benghazi, the media or Bill Clinton - are exactly what his base wants to hear. Trump is an energetic showman, and he knows his audience. At a time when his campaign finally seemed to be falling apart, he did well by pandering to his own mob. He probably won't win over any undecided voters, but he won't lose many supporters either. Set amongst the backdrop of this surreal election cycle, that's perhaps the best debate outcome he could have hoped for.
Clinton, for her part, didn't dazzle, and certainly didn't deliver the knock out blow that many supporters would have hoped for. She was clearly more composed and knowledgeable about policy, and still has an easier road to the White House, but will have to keep fighting for it.
This, however, is not necessarily a bad debate result for the Clinton campaign. At a time when Republican strategists are openly discussing ways to replace Trump or let running mate Mike Pence take over somehow, to definitively beat Trump would have increased the chances - however small - that Clinton might have to face a more viable Republican candidate.
The fact is, Clinton is winning, and even if she perhaps didn't 'wow' undecided voters, she's still in a better position than her opponent. Most analysts agree that Clinton ended the debate as the winner, and Trump as the loser.
The sad truth, however, is that the real losers of the debate are the American people. As has been too often the case in this electoral cycle, American voters were deprived of the coherent, intelligent discourse that they will need to make an informed decision at the polls, and left wondering how 318 million Americans were left with two of the most disliked and flawed candidates in American history.
bernd@khaleejtimes.com