2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumIMO, the second debate changed very little.
I think that each candidate's supporters will think that their candidate won. There was plenty there for people who like any of the candidates to cheer about. And there was also plenty for people dislike any of the candidates to decry.
True to this pattern, as a Hillary supporter, I think she did the best. But, I think the other candidates did well also, and I don't think Hillary will get the same poll bump that she did after the first debate. The first debate was a significant event in the primary, particularly combined with the Benghazi hearings. Hillary had been fighting bad press for several months, and her strong performance in the debate and the hearings reminded everyone why she is the frontrunner after all.
If anything, I think this second debate makes the case that we don't actually need 20 of them. They're all going to be pretty similar. The first debate has the excitement of all candidates on the same stage, going back and forth for the first time. After that, it just sort of keeps being the same thing over and over.
Basically, I don't see anyone gaining or losing much as a result of this debate, and I suspect that, barring a major gaffe, the rest of the primary debates won't have the same magnitude of effect that the first debate had, either.
daleanime
(17,796 posts)DanTex
(20,709 posts)anything.
Weidman
(71 posts)Horrible night for Clinton overall. That, and the fake polls that came out of it too. One was sponsored by Correct the Record. Instant post-debate polls are worthless.
Watch the movement post-debate. It will drop for Clinton.