KALAMAZOO (WKZO-AM) — The overnight snap polls suggest that Hillary Clinton was the clear winner of last night’s debate at Hofstra University, one of the most ballyhooed and watched presidential debates in history.
Western Michigan University Political Science Professor John Clark said both stuck to their scripts, or at least their previous positions, and played to their bases but isn’t sure if either performance will actually change the minds of that many voters.
“(Independents) who may have reservations about both candidates, I’m not sure that there was much of anything that was presented during the debate that would win them over to one side or the other,” Clark said.
He said Trump spent much of the debate on the defensive because of the line of questioning and reverted somewhat to the tactics he used to disrupt his Republican opponents during the primary debates, interrupting their remarks.
But Clark said Clinton didn’t fall into the trap they did, stopping to react to Trump. Clark says Trump had great success with the tactic, winning almost all of those exchanges in the past.
“She didn’t allow that to happen, she continued on with her answers,” Clark said.
Clark said one of Hillary Clinton’s best moments was when she reacted to some of Trump’s comments on leaving NATO and withdrawing troops from overseas by and saying “words matter” when you president, especially when dealing in foreign affairs, and she reassured the allies from the debate podium that the U.S. would keep its promises if she had anything to say about it.
Clark said it has often worked to Clinton’s disadvantage that she has been so careful with words, but he says better that in a President than the alternative.
Clark said he will be interested to see how the ratings were and where the polls go. More debates are planned, but they aren’t expected to attract the audiences that last night’s debate did.
Donald Trump will be in Novi near Detroit on Friday. That same day, Chelsea Clinton will visit Traverse City to open a campaign office.
Details on their plans have not been released yet.
