FWIW, here’s my own anecdote. Disclaimer: anecdotes are not evidence. They are merely one data point in the data set.
So many pundits (and normal human beings as well) contended that the debate would change the minds of nobody. There were no persuadables. Everyone had already made up their minds. The debate would only reinforce their pre-conceived notions. I tended to agree with this. After all, who was waiting so long to make up their minds? Who needed 14 months of campaigning to decide? The people who weren’t paying attention until now, that’s who.
Three people very close to me were Trump supporters. I wouldn’t say die-hard supporters, but they were definitely fans of The Celebrity Apprentice, and were under the impression that show in some way related to Trump as a real person, his skills as a businessman or his qualifications to be President. They fell for the whole “we need a businessman to run the government like a business” line of garbage. When I riposted that such an idea was terrible, that business and government have different goals, methods and purposes, the curt reply given to me was “everything is business.”
However, after watching the debate, they were disgusted. They called Trump a “dumbass” and a “dipshit.” And they didn’t even see the part where he REALLY went off the rails; they turned off the debate due to nausea after 30 minutes. They were DONE with #LoserDonald. They are not Clinton fans either, but it was phrased to me thus: “If the only choices are him or Clinton, then it’s definitely Clinton.”
The only down side to this is that we’re in California, not Ohio, so these three votes are not too impactful.
I predict that when we get the first batch of polls post-debate, we will be seeing a noticeable increase in the lead held by Secretary Clinton.
Something to consider.
