By Aaron Miller-
Hillary Clinton wins round 1 of the debate against Donald Trump, as she pushed him against the wall on many critical election issues.
Both presidential candidates have been on the wrong side of public opinion for several reasons, but Clinton looked the stronger of the two .
Clinton is seen by many as a liar who is corrupt and untrustworthy, whilst Trump is widely perceived as a rash, unguided individual who is egoistic and lacks common sense.
Voters watched the debate from a room inside the National Constitution Center, focusing on every word of each sentence by both presidential nominees. Clinton was smart in the skillful way she attacked Trump about his long questioning of Obama’s place of birth- alleging that the U.S president was born abroad and not in the United States.
Although Trump accepted his error, it looked terribly bad on him, and made it easy for Clinton to charge him with being racist- a charge Trump would not want, given the potential for it to close the door to votes from Afro Americans. Trump’s defence at the charge was weak and irrational, as he based the years he spent attempting to discredit Obama’s citizenship, on hear say- making him look guilty as charged, or pathetically stupid at best. After referring to Trump’s malicious propaganda against Obama as a ”racist lie”, she accused him of having a long record of engaging in racist behaviour. Many observers would have found it very easy to agree with her, except those whose views were already biased towards Trump.
Trump was defenseless against attacks by Clinton that he was sexist, racist, and a tax evader, as a growingly uncomfortable Trump tried to hide his shame through constant interruptions. The event was undoubtedly won by Clinton. Trump’s campaign spokesman, Boris Epsheteyn, criticised the moderator-Lesler Holt, for interrupting Trump more. He claimed Holt was harder on Trump, and followed more on Trump, but the reality is that Clinton simply did much better. It’s a hard truth the Trump team must face.