My favorite thing about the debate last night was that Ms. Clinton provoked and let “Trump be Trump.” Why?
Because that one-and-a-half hour informercial eliminated any possible outside “excuse” for anyone still contemplating voting for Trump or, for that matter, not fully committed to defeating him.
At this stage in the day, bad journalism is irrelevant. The supposed “economic anxiety” of more affluent Republicans is (and always was) laughable. Voting out of “party loyalty” is contemptible. Lodging a third party “conscience” vote is irresponsible and vain.
It is important to finally clear away the brush and recognize the ultimate problem: some 40% of our voting population is ignorant, incompetent, bigoted, shallow, reckless, dangerously self-interested and/or deliberately indifferent. They are a cognizable threat to the country’s future.
We do face a crisis but it is not Trump. It is the millions of voters who are flocking to the Republican party, and who would not only bring us Trump, but already brought us George W. Bush, Sarah Palin, Dick Cheney, Sam Brownback, Paul LePage, Scott Walker, Paul Ryan, Ted Cruz . . .
The threat consists of the voters who would cheerlead austerity in the face of a looming depression, freeze any government they don't singularly control, deny Global Warming and science, thwart basic public necessities like infrastructure and health care out of political spite, distinguish between America and a “real America,” and repeat failed ideologies like “trickle down” economics.
Did Ms. Clinton, through Donald Trump, really expose all of that last night? Yes, she did. Because last night Trump did not make a silly gaffe, he did not have an “off night,” he did not flub a line or get caught with a “gotcha question.” No, last night Trump gave the same performance which had previously won him the support of tens of millions of these voters — and no doubt didn't disappoint them again in terms of substance.
I thought Ms. Clinton got it exactly right in her first answer of the night:
“The central question in this election is really what kind of country we want to be and what kind of future we'll build together.”
When it comes to this question, the other side is not confused, uninformed or merely misguided. They are deliberate, purposeful, but wrong.
Now, let’s beat them.