Listen HereIt’s tough to be a Republican right now
Kate Bauer
@katemareebauer
On Oct. 7 when the October surprise went viral online, Americans had a new reason to hate the Republican Party. In 2005, Donald Trump engaged in a private conversation in which he severely degraded women. I refuse to sit back and ignore the fact that he is not the perfect candidate to represent both myself and the Republican Party. Regardless, he is our candidate and I choose to support him. With the debate just two days after the surprise was leaked, I was immediately curious as to how things were going to play out on the debate stage in St. Louis.
After watching the second debate, many things about Trump’s performance have sent Americans into a frenzy. While this did not put the final nail in his coffin, there are many elements of his overall campaign and personality that Trump needs to improve upon to improve his chances at winning the presidency in November.
In the first ten minutes of the debate, Donald Trump did begin talking about his tax policy but immediately got too caught up in the argumentative part of the debate. He rarely allowed his opponent to speak and complete her claim without interrupting her. While Trump, and the American people, may have enjoyed his zinger (“because you’d be in jail”), this made him look weak. Had Trump have allowed Hillary to fully complete her arguments before interjecting, he would have come across more polished and professional.
On the topic of interruption, the moderators seemed to be incredibly biased toward Hillary Clinton during the debate. There were times in which they mocked Trump, cut him off, and did not allow him to finish speaking on his point. If the rules are that each candidate should not interrupt one another, the moderators should not do so either.
One of the most groundbreaking moments of the debate occurred as Donald Trump brought up the 1975 rape case in which Hillary Clinton defended a rapist. Yes, it was her job to defend the man as a lawyer, but she had no right to laugh about certain aspects of the case. Regardless of the cause of the laughter, it was completely inappropriate to laugh after the case had concluded as a 12-year-old’s life was completely ruined. She stands as a defender of women’s rights and yet she had the gall to laugh at such a matter. This was alarming to me as both a voter and a woman.
I was impressed with the way the debate ended, despite its rough start. Audience member Karl Baker asked, “Would either of you name one positive thing that you respect in one another?”
Clinton’s answer was that Trump had great children. Trump took a more positive way of answering the question by stating that Clinton never gives up, she is strong and he admirers
that in a woman. Hillary’s reply lacked sincerity and seemed to be forced whereas Trump complimented an actual thing about her.
I enjoyed seeing a more focused side of Trump in this debate. Prior to the allegations about the October surprise scandal, Trump seemed to be more relaxed and confident. In the debate on Oct. 19, I hope to see Donald continuing to improve his calm. The fact that he was able to find a sincere compliment to provide to his running mate showed he did have the ability to notice things Clinton is doing well within her campaign. Just because the two candidates disagree on virtually everything, there is still time for Trump to be cordial toward Clinton.
