Second Debate Leaves Voters Unsatisfied (Still)

Posted On October 11, 2016

Last Sunday we witnessed the second presidential debate, a heated 90-minute exchange between the contentious candidates.  The debate concluded with a record of eighty interruptions, both campaigns claiming victory and CNN and YouGov polls reporting Hillary Clinton as the winner.

By the numbers, the top five subjects discussed in the debate were women, the Islamic State, Russia, taxes, and the opposing candidates.  Bloomberg Politics reports that Donald Trump used 16% more policy keywords than Hillary Clinton, even though both candidates referenced each other more frequently than any issue.  Most of the tax talk that took place was about the candidates’ personal tax history, and unrelated to their prospective tax plans.

They did touch briefly on the state of the economy through a question about energy.  Environmental changes in the energy industry have cost many coal miners and other energy workers their jobs.  Trump proposed to bring energy companies back into business, attributing losses in oil, natural gas, and coal industry’s to Obama’s administration.  Clinton countered by explaining that the US was finally energy independent, and that lack of reliance on foreign energy helps our economy.

Making the most use out of the town hall format, each candidate spoke for almost equal amounts of time with Trump speaking 40 minutes and 1 0 seconds and Clinton speaking 39 minutes and five seconds.  Trump took tough stances on foreign policy and Clinton addressed healthcare issues related to the current administration. 

Social media analytics company Spredfast Insights reported that debate-related conversation on Twitter was overwhelmingly negative.  Despite a misdirected match up of personal jabs and irrelevant sparring, the debate ended on a positive note.   Each candidate was asked to name something they respected about their opponent, and they closed with a hand shake that had been skipped in the beginning. 

Clinton remarked on Trump’s children praising, “his children are incredibly able and devoted and I think that says a lot about Donald.  I don’t agree with nearly anything else he says or does, but I do respect that.  And I think that is something that as a mother and a grandmother is very important to me.”

Trump commented, “I will say this about Hillary: She doesn’t quit.  She doesn’t give up.  I respect that.  […] She’s a fighter, I disagree with much of what she’s fighting for […] but she does fight hard and she doesn’t quit and she doesn’t give up and I consider that to be a very good trait.”

Sources:

MarketWatch, Washington Post, Bloomberg Politics, CNBC, Wall Street Journal, Fox News