Paul’s Problems: My take on the debate

Paul Rauzzi

So there was a debate last night. Is there anyone that legitimately believes we are heading in a good direction anymore? I certainly don’t. This election, much like the rest of 2016, has been a major train wreck.

I went into the debate expecting the same as the last two, name calling, random accusations and more interruptions. Don’t get me wrong, there were plenty of things that fell under each one of those categories. I just didn’t expect the extra…surprise that came with the final presidential debate.

Let’s start with the usual before we get into the more interesting news.

Donald Trump’s biggest points of attack against Hillary Clinton were her past comments about the TPP, her position on gun control and her stance on immigration.

Hillary Clinton attacked Trump’s judgement, citing his comments about increasing the number of countries with nuclear weapons, his ties to Russia as well as saying, “Putin would rather have a puppet as President” implying that Trump would allow the Russians to manipulate him in the Oval Office.

As per usual both candidates made dodges, excuses and refuted their opponent’s claims. Trump blatantly lied as he has in the past about comments he has made when Clinton implied he could not be trusted with our nuclear codes. Trump claimed, “There is no quote. You will not find a quote from me,” when Clinton cited a comment Trump made in an interview months ago about giving nuclear weapons to countries like South Korea and Japan.

He was not the only one to lie however. One of Hillary Clinton’s biggest weak points is on the Trans Pacific Partnership, better known as the TPP. Clinton claims to have been on the side of many Americans including her past rival Senator Bernie Sanders and have rejected the deal from the beginning. However a quick Google search will show you that as Trump said, Clinton called the TPP the, “gold standard” of trade deals when she was Secretary of State.

On to the surprise of the night. As the debate drew on there were more accusations, more arguments about who said what and what they meant as well as a few jabs from either candidate. But the biggest and most interesting statement of the night came from Donald Trump.

When asked if he would accept the election outcome if it did not go in his favor Donald Trump responded with, “I don’t know. I’m not looking at anything yet. I’ll tell you at the time.”

The day after the debate at a rally in Delaware, Ohio Trump built on his statement from the night before saying, “Of course I will accept a clear result but I will exercise my legal right to challenge the vote if there is a questionable result!”

While Trump is free to challenge the vote I find it very concerning that he left it up in the air whether or not he would accept defeat. This is an election for the most powerful position in the world in a time when the country is all over the place and in need of leadership. Personally I don’t think either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump is the right person for the job. But regardless of whom you think the better candidate is you should be a bit concerned by that statement.

We’ve seen supporters from the Republicans and the Democrats get out of hand in their protest throughout this election season and if Donald Trump loses and claims the election was rigged as he has been stating on Twitter and in rallies for the last several weeks there is no guarantee how his most devout supporters will react.

Overall, the debate proved to me clearly that both candidates have a lot of negative baggage that they will carry with them into the White House. For voters it has become less of a matter of who they think is going to lead the country forwards and more of a matter of who they think won’t ruin the nation.

So my take on the debate? America is in for a less than preferable presidency no matter who wins.

For more info on Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump or third party candidates follow the links below:

https://www.hillaryclinton.com/

https://www.donaldjtrump.com/

http://www.jill2016.com/

https://www.johnsonweld.com/