It’s a sad world we live in where I watch a debate for the next president of the United States, and I can’t take anything of substance away from it.
On Monday night, Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton went head-to-head in what I thought was the messiest hour and a half of television I’ve ever watched.
Maybe I’m an idiot for not getting more out of the debate, or maybe it’s because a good third of the debate was Clinton, Trump and moderator Lester Holt all talking at once, creating an incomprehensible tornado of words that was hard to follow. Anyway, here are the main (mostly useless) points I was able to take away from the debate.
First and foremost, this didn’t feel like a professional debate, but instead it felt like a married couple arguing on stage for an hour and a half.
The best example of this was every time Clinton said something Trump didn’t agree with, he’d shake his head and mutter under his breath “No,” or “That’s not true.” It reminded me a lot of the occasional bickering my parents find themselves in.
On a few occasions, Trump actually yelled into the microphone and did his best to correct Clinton. But she never raised her voice and it seemed as if she was trying too hard to maintain her positon as “the nice candidate,” while condemning Trump as “the mean candidate.”
I give Trump credit for standing up for himself. Unlike Trump, Clinton never really played hard-nosed defense.
This isn’t running for sixth grade class president. This is the real deal, and I would’ve much rather seen Clinton get defensive and mean on stage rather than try to maintain her “I’m such a nice person” persona, which I’m not buying whatsoever.
In recent weeks there’s been a lot of discussion regarding Clinton heath. The peak of these discussions came Sept. 11 when Clinton allegedly collapsed from exhaustion after a memorial service.
Some have gone as far to imply she died that day and has a doppelgänger walking around for her. Of course, these type of claims are just rumors.
Clinton’s critics have been arguing that she is not in proper health to be running for president.
Monday night, however, showed us that it was Trump who has health issues. He may or may not have sniffled more times than he spoke during the debate. Maybe it’s just a cold, but this time, a health problem, while it may be as minor as a common cold, cannot be denied.
Monday night opened my eyes to the fact that maybe I need to educate myself more on the candidates and their policies. After all, the decision on Nov. 8 will have a direct impact on my life.
While the health of the candidates and their uncanny likeness of an old married couple were not key points of the debate by any means, it’s what I got out of it. Partly due to the fact I was more concerned with putting Snapchat filters on Clinton’s face and partly because the candidates made a jumbled mess of this debate which many could barely understand.
Christian Gravius is a contributing writer for the Bona Venture. His email is
graviucc15@bonaventure.edu
