2016 Presidential Debate

Roniquea Cockerham

October 5, 2016

9:30 a.m. – 10:50 a.m.

Operation Management

2016 Presidential Debate

 The 2016 Presidential Election is not until November 2016, but our president elects, Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump are thinning out their battle fields and preparing for an extremely competitive election.  Our country has already seen some important and very highly verbal disagreements with the two major political parties, just like previous elections. In an attempt to get their party’s nomination, these potential candidates are attacking each other with all they have.  Quite often, we overlook how changeable the support for a candidate can be during the primary season. For instance, how Republican Donald Trump was once way ahead of the other Republican candidates. Before I give my feedback on the debate, I want to tell some important facts about the two candidates.

 Of all the current Republican presidential candidates, Donald Trump seems to be the coldest.  The people seems to either love or hate the sassy businessman, who is also not afraid to speak his mind.  Strangely enough, the same things that cause some of us to love him cause others to hate him, fretting that his sharp and biting words would result in a diplomatic disaster if he became the next leader of the world.  All we know about Trump is that he is a shrewd and successful businessman.  He has been known to lead several financially successful corporations.

        Hillary Clinton is the best one of the Democratic candidates running for the presidential office. Being the former Senator and the former Secretary of State under the leadership of President Barack Obama, Clinton also has experience in the White House. Clinton was also the former First Lady when her husband, Bill Clinton, was in office. She was the second most popular candidate when President Obama got his nomination in 2008.

During the presidential debate on Monday, the stakes was higher and the polls showed the candidates matched in battleground states, making the race a close call. Clinton forced Donald Trump onto defense over his temperament, refusal to release his taxes and his past comments about race and women. Clinton, who has seen her dominance of the presidential race fade. I like the fact that she used her sense of humor by smiling through some Trump’s strongest attacks. The two bickered for almost 90 minutes. In my opinion, the biggest challenge for Clinton is that most voters choose their candidate based on more general measures, not ideas.

For Clinton, who lost her lead in recent weeks, her challenge was to stand up to an unpredictable opponent without appearing weak. For Trump, the overarching question was whether we would see the impulsive Trump who has used jokes and insults against Hillary. What was also unique in this debate is why the candidates were so focused on Lester Holt, who would have to overcome the pre-debate earlier this month. As Holt opened the debate to questions about race in America, he turned to Trump’s long record of questioning President Barack Obama’s U.S. citizenship and his recent about- face on the issue. It was questioned that Trump should have expected, yet he floundered in his response, first pinning the blame for the entire controversy on a former Clinton aide before painting himself as a heroic seeker of truth who only did the job that journalists wouldn’t do.