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Running as an
anti-establishment candidate, Donald Trump took the presidential debate stage
on Monday night to hammer home his call for sweeping political change and try
to win over millions of undecided voters.
But the Republican nominee
seemed unable to capitalize on his opportunity in front of a television
audience that by some estimates may have been 100-million strong. Instead of
presenting himself as a change agent, he spent most of the evening trading
personal insults with his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.
It illustrated the paradox
that has plagued Trump’s campaign. Polls show an electorate hungry for change,
with a majority believing the country is on the wrong track. Yet Trump’s brash
personality and his tendency to stir up controversy have made him, at times, a
poor messenger.
Trump started strongly on
Monday, sticking to the bread and butter theme of his campaign - the erosion of
U.S. manufacturing jobs. But he soon lost his composure, especially when
Clinton questioned his success in business and his refusal to release his tax
returns and accused him of racism and sexism.
When on message Trump paints a
bleak picture of a United States that is victimized by China in trade,
hemorrhaging jobs to Mexico and blighted by gangs of illegal immigrants roaming
the streets of "warzone" inner cities committing crimes.
Robert Adams, 75, an undecided
voter from Boise, Idaho, said he thought Trump’s dystopian view of America was
correct. “I think it’s hell in the big cities,” Adams said.
But after watching the debate,
he viewed both the real estate magnate and Clinton as a "sad" choice
for American voters and was leaning toward Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson.
Reuters/Ipsos polling shows an
electorate in a downcast mood, with 64 percent of Americans believing the
country is on the wrong track. That number includes 87 percent of Republicans
and 44 percent of Democrats.
When Reuters asked voters to
pick the first word that comes to mind when thinking about the country, the
most popular choice was “frustration,” followed by “fear” and “anger.”
Some of Trump's strongest
moments at Monday’s debate were when he categorized Clinton, a former secretary
of state and U.S. senator as a “typical politician,” accusing her of achieving
nothing in her years in Congress and government.
With an electorate yearning
for change, Clinton is hamstrung by her long record and her close association
with the Obama administration.
Rather than proposing
wholesale political overhaul, Clinton offers up a vision of a country headed in
the right direction but one that needs some changes to address income
inequality and create jobs.
Her more optimistic view
impressed another undecided voter, Nancy Willhite, 61, of Portland, Oregon.
"She seems more in touch with reality to me,” she said.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll published
on Monday found that about half of all likely voters in the United States were
looking to the debate to help them make a final decision.
Ron Bonjean, a Republican
strategist in Washington, said Trump's performance on Monday would have left
many undecided voters with questions about his ability to lead the country.
“Donald Trump has to convince
them that he is going to be a safe alternative and I think it’s open to debate
whether he pulled that off,” Bonjean said.
Christopher Devine, a
political science professor at the University of Dayton in Ohio said Trump's
message on Monday sometimes got lost in a welter of hyperbole that invited
mocking responses from Clinton.
“He’ll identify a problem
people are concerned about, but in that excitement over making that point, he
goes overboard and makes claims that don’t hold up. It loses its effectiveness
at that point.”
(Reporting by James Oliphant,
Ginger Gibson, and Chris Kahn. Editing by Paul Thomasch and Ross Colvin)
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