The Petty Fight for the Biggest Office

Last night I couldn't resist and I watched the first debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.


I'll put this out there right now, Trump is nuts. Most of what he said was garbage. He lied. He went off topic. He really didn't respect the moderator. He didn't respect the time limits. He was rude at times. He didn't like it when his brand was attacked. All that being said, he controlled the room all night, for all the reasons I just stated.


Clinton had her moments. She counterpunched. She let Donald set her up and she hit him, sometimes scoring. However, she never carried the narrative. She never controlled the room. If you wanted to, you could defeat her by saying nothing and waiting for her to attack. She never had a tendency to attack and often her voice sounded unsure.


To me, even though she said the right words most of the night, it lacked confidence and conviction. Saying the right thing is important but making it believable and confident is also important, especially if you want to lead.


Now, being Canadian, I don't get to pick in this election, even though there will be spillover effects felt north of the border. Unfortunately, I can't see either of them being President of the United States of America.


I know, Hillary Clinton should be a shoo-in, but she's not. She's in a dog-fight with a buffoon. Trump clearly lost last night but it's because of his pompous arrogant slick talking ways with no regard for the truth and not because Clinton kicked his metaphorical feet out from under him, stepped on his chest, and drove a wooden stake through his bigoted heart. And, unless she does that in one of the two remaining debates, she risks losing. Donald Trump talks about winning and how he is a winner. It has been part of his narrative since he started down this path to the oval office. For me it feels like Clinton will only become President if she comes in second last in a two horse race. It feels like her only hope is Trump becomes even more horrible and people see how bad he is instead of how good she is.


I saw a meme a while back that said, "A software interface is like a joke, if you have to explain it, it isn't very good." If you are running for President and your strategy is to show how bad your opponent is, are you really very good?