For somebody coming off some of the most damning video tape in campaign history, all in all not the worst debate Donald Trump could have had. Im curious to know if he already had the strategy of having women who accused Bill Clinton of sexual misconduct there before the audio tapes were released. Trump had been making a point to prepare more thoroughly for this debate so maybe this was his strategy going into the debate, put Hillary Clinton on her heels and force her to have to defend both her conduct and Bill’s. By bringing them out there and discussing how Hillary Clinton has discredited them, I think he attempted to show that she is no champion for women, while at the same time deflecting criticism and forcing the narrative away from the audio tape. Even when Anderson Cooper pressed him in the first question of the debate, Trump did his best to avoid answering instead talking about his plan to attack the Islamic State.
Secretary Clinton, it seemed, failed to capitalize on a clearly listing Trump campaign and deliver a knockout blow that would end the election. She seemed to continue with many of the points she brought up in the first debate, but failed to elaborate on them and to sell the idea to the American voter. Once Trump began to attack her personally, she seemed a lot more hesitant to go after Trump. It wasn’t a bad debate for Clinton, but she did not wow either, she was just bland.
As for the final element of the debate, the moderators had a tough job on their hands. They had to both control the crowd, as well as deal with two candidates, one of whom is notoriously aggressive in debates. I thought they did a rather good job of controlling both elements, and the debate could have gotten out of hand but it seemed that the moderators were always able to rescue it.