On Monday night, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton finally came face to face on the same stage. With ratings and viewership expected to meet Super Bowl standards, their debate was highly anticipated and long awaited. The stakes were high with the upcoming presidency on the line, and 100 million eager minds to convince.
While both sides came to the podium with facts and fiction, along with their one-way-street mentality, the debate served its purpose excellently. Each side was able to reiterate ideas and stances directly to each other, which I feel is what the public has restlessly awaited. I would be reluctant to agree that this debate was opinion shifting, with unprecedented information that gave the public new realizations. It was not. It only solidified the opinions of each candidate’s respective supporting body.
In a point in time where Washington-insider politicians like Hillary Clinton lack a general feel of authenticity and real, progressive ideas for the United States, Donald Trump clearly earned his victory in this debate. His ability to embody the voice of the public’s anger, call out a misinformed Clinton, and move undecided voters to the right, left him with a win.
Clinton came out of the gate overly prepared, in which she trapped herself in a robotic, lifeless manner. When she spoke, it felt like she was reading her resumé. It came off as her giving a list of previous accomplishments, and basically judging how well she would do in office by comparing herself to the administrations she has been able to leech onto. I feel like she lost a vital connection to the public by putting on a political “show” of sorts. The American public does not want a political show. They need someone who will address the concerns of the millions of Americans over jobs, economic stability, and military strength. Clinton spoke for Washington, not the people.
Trump hammered home and addressed these concerns in a straightforward, understandable fashion. The policy to lower corporate taxes and drop the highest tax bracket down to 25% will stimulate the economy. Corporate headquarters of many businesses leave America at a rapid rate, in an effort to escape the brutal taxation. The only way to bring manufacturing and consequently, jobs, back to the United States is to give the people with money the ability to put it into the hands of the people through business, rather than in the hands of Washington. This point served as a critical aspect of the debate, and is where I feel Trump did the most damage. Hillary’s policy of lowering taxes on the lower-middle class and reckless funding of governmental programs would only perpetuate poverty and create a power vacuum in which people thrive off money Washington simply does not have.
Trump also took the victory on the issue of job growth and creation as a whole. The only way to gain jobs back for Americans, he claims, is to return businesses to the United States and allow new ones to start. His explicit plan is to lower corporate taxes. This will not only encourage businesses to remain in the states and keep their money here, but serve as an incentive for new businesses to form. Hillary does not have a strong plan for job creation, and that is where many Americans have their minds focused. The debate proved that Trump tells it like it is, without any of the dressed up, washed up, and sometimes made up agenda of Washington.
