Hillary Clinton gave a perfunctory debate performance Wednesday night. Facing criticism for her private email server, her record at the State Department, and the Clinton Foundation, she leaned heavily on tiresome talking points, the kind she has repeated again and again on the stump for 18 months.
Fortunately for her, she was debating Donald Trump. So she won the debate handily, almost by default—just as, in all likelihood, she will win the presidency in about three weeks.
On the matters of his economic plan, her economic plan, the Supreme Court, immigration, gun control, and abortion, Donald Trump was the embodiment of somnolence tonight. For the first half hour of the debate, he seemed to be totally absent—except for NAFTA and NATO, two issues which are important to him but not to average voters.
As such, he allowed Clinton to deflect questions about partial birth abortion and handgun bans, and even admitted, without prompting, that Barack Obama had deported millions of illegal immigrants, undercutting Trump’s argument that the Democrats want “open borders.”
He also allowed Clinton to indulge in fantastical thinking on the economy—whereby the government is going to “invest” untold sums on all manner of worthy projects, without raising taxes on the middle class or adding a penny to the debt. Nonsense on stilts, but Trump let it go.
And as for Obamacare? Well, state after state is reporting shocking spikes in premiums, but Trump could not be bothered even to mention it, except for a throwaway line at the end of the debate.
He was roused from his slumber on the matter of Clinton’s personal character, but he is hardly an able messenger on this front. For every wager Trump placed, Clinton was able to raise the stakes tenfold, by pointing out any number of horrible things he has said over the years.
Here, then, is the windbag in winter. Trump made his fortune in the economic boom of the 1980s, but, then again, so did many Americans. He set himself apart not because he was a particularly acute businessman (he almost went belly-up in the 90s, after all) or because he built a better mousetrap (he’s a real estate developer who happened to be born in time to catch the construction boom of his era). He is where he is because he talks a good game.
But, as it turns out, you can’t talk your way into the presidency.
Trump seems increasingly aware of this. About halfway through the debate, Chris Wallace asked Trump if he would accept the results of the election. With his typical bravada, Trump said he’d wait and see. A telling admission! Trump could have brushed off the query by saying, “I intend to win this election by convincing people of …,” then transitioning into his core message. Instead, he took the bait, and implicitly acknowledged the possibility, even the likelihood, of his impending defeat.
A recent Tweet of his was also revealing: “If I’m elected President I am going to keep Radical Islamic Terrorists out of our country!” That if is interesting. It’s not what presidential candidates usually say. They usually say when I’m elected president. They’re not supposed to be contemplating defeat. But it looks like Trump is.
And why shouldn’t he? He’s down in the polls by the same amount that John McCain was at this point eight years ago, and just about everybody knew by late October 2008 that Barack Obama was going to win handily.
This has to be hard for Trump. Since The Art of the Deal came out 30 years ago, he’s talked about himself as though he’s a great winner, the best ever. But now, his impending failure is plain for all to see. And it was plastered all over his face tonight.
The big talker has nothing left to say. The greatest blowhard of the modern era seems to be all out of hot air, as the moment of his defeat grows closer and closer.
