Las Vegas Sun

March 18, 2024

PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE:

Analysis: Devil’s in the details — Clinton offers them, Trump doesn’t

Trump

Evan Vucci / AP

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump stands with Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton at the first presidential debate at Hofstra University, Monday, Sept. 26, 2016, in Hempstead, N.Y.

Any voter who hoped that a new version of Donald Trump would emerge during the debate portion of the presidential campaign will have to wait for St. Louis.

In tonight’s debate, he offered the same over-the-top bleak view of the state of the nation and, more alarmingly, the same lack of details about how he’d solve the long list of problems he outlines.

More than ever, the difference between Hillary Clinton and Trump in their grasp of policy and their ability to offer plausible solutions to them was abundantly clear.

On job creation, Clinton walked through her multi-pronged approach that included investment in jobs in infrastructure, advanced manufacturing and energy technology, raising the minimum wage, establishing equal pay for women, inducing profit sharing, providing paid family leave and making college debt-free.

Trump railed about bad trade deals and said U.S. companies should be given more incentives to prompt them to stay put. What kind of incentives? And what kind of terms should be included in new trade deals? Viewers were left to figure that out on their own.

On improving race relations and reducing violence, Clinton’s plan included supporting better training for law enforcement, reforming the criminal justice system to reduce inequities in incarceration of minorities, establishing universal background checks for gun owners and tightening restrictions on ownership of guns by people on no-fly and terrorism watch lists.

Trump sounded a call for more law and order — which he repeated it at least five times — and reiterated his support of controversial stop-and-frisk policies.

Meanwhile, Trump continued to be evasive about why he’s refusing to release his tax returns and details about his role in the Obama birther movement.

Same old Trump — working on the fly, playing to the crowd, sounding the same notes.

Clinton, on the other hand, prepared extensively, and it showed. Not only did she come armed with facts and details, but she’d clearly done her homework about how to push Trump’s buttons and not allow him to get under her skin.

Line of the night: “I think Donald just criticized me for preparing for the debate,” Clinton said. “And yes I did. And you know what else I prepared for? I prepared to be president, and I think that’s a good thing.”

Granted, none of what happened tonight is likely to make Trump’s followers feel any differently about him. He made it clear long ago that he didn’t need to offer them concrete ideas about how to move the country forward.

But for those unwilling to take Trump’s word that he has solutions, as opposed to demanding to know exactly how he’ll lead, they’ll have to wait until the next debate in St. Louis to see if he can deliver the goods.

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