One suggestion here: Put emotion aside for a moment so you can better absorb this debate analysis.
The headline is both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump exposed themselves politically last night.
American voters who are paying attention now know where the candidates stand.
The back and forth on abortion is the best example:
TRUMP: “If you go with what Hillary is saying, in the ninth month, you can take the baby and rip the baby out of the womb of the mother just prior to the birth of the baby. Now, you can say that that's OK and Hillary can say that that's OK. But it's not OK with me.”
((EDIT))
HILLARY: “I do not think the United States government should be stepping in and making those most personal of decisions. So you can regulate if you are doing so with the life and the health of the mother taken into account.”
It is somewhat shocking that Hillary Clinton would support late-term, partial-birth abortion, citing the health of the mother.
As we saw in Kansas and in Pennsylvania, the health of the mother could be anything.
There are corrupt doctors who will abort for money on the most flimsy of physical excuses.
In a humane country the unborn must be protected to some extent. Otherwise, we do not have any moral authority on anything.
Next up illegal immigration:
CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: “Is that your dream, open borders?”
CLINTON: “Well, if you went on to read the rest of the sentence, I was talking about energy. You know, we trade more energy with our neighbors than we trade with the rest of the world combined.”
Chris Wallace, citing the WikiLeaks hack, showing Secretary Clinton saying to a bunch of Brazilian bankers:
"My dream is a hemispheric common market, with open trade and open borders, some time in the future with energy that is as green and sustainable as we can get it …"
So this isn't just about energy; it's about what the E.U. does.
Mrs. Clinton supports people moving freely in this hemisphere as they do in Western Europe.
That is the truth.
Now we devolve and get into how the candidates really feel about each other:
TRUMP: “Look, Putin from everything I see, has no respect for this person.”
CLINTON: “Well, that's because he'd rather have a puppet as president of the United States.”
TRUMP: “No puppet. No puppet. You're the puppet!”
CLINTON: “It's pretty clear you won't admit –-“
TRUMP: “No, you're the puppet.”
Puppets all over the world are outraged and they have a right to be.
Then things got even worse. Here's Clinton on Trump:
CLINTON: “It's not one thing, it's a pattern, a pattern of divisiveness, a very dark and in many ways, dangerous vision of our country where he incites violence, where he applauds people who are pushing and pulling and punching at his rallies. That is not who America is.”
It is clear Hillary Clinton despises Trump and vice versa.
TRUMP: “She shouldn't be allowed to run. It's crooked -- she's -- she's guilty of a very, very serious crime. She should not be allowed to run. And just in that respect, I say it's rigged, because she should never...”
WALLACE: “But –“
TRUMP: “Chris, she should never have been allowed to run for the presidency based on what she did with e-mails and so many other things.”
Finally, Donald Trump made a tactical mistake by continuing to suggest the election may be rigged.
That may play well with Trump's base, but he needs to win over independents and people who are skeptical of him:
WALLACE: “I want to ask you here on the stage tonight: Do you make the same commitment that you will absolutely -- sir, that you will absolutely accept the result of this election?”
TRUMP: “I will look at it at the time.”
Now that statement dominated news headlines today, overriding all the political points last night, giving the media another hammer to pound trump into pudding.
Talking Points does not understand why Mr. Trump does not understand that stuff like that hurts him.
He clarified today in Ohio:
TRUMP, today: “Of course, I would accept a clear election result, but I would also reserve my right to contest or file a legal challenge in the case of a questionable result.”
Summing up, nobody won the debate, so Hillary Clinton will likely maintain her substantial lead.\
And that's the memo.