(This photo of the second debate is from nbcnews.com.)I was rather surprised by some in the cable news media who seemed to think Donald Trump won the second debate. I didn't see it that way at all.
First, just consider the visuals of the debate. While Clinton looked non-threatening and sounded very reasonable, Trump looked downright predatory by stalking the stage and making faces while Clinton was talking. He also continued to interrupt Clinton while she was talking, while Clinton let him make his points.
And when you consider what they said, I also think Clinton was reaching out to a broader segment of the population by having real proposals and policies. Trump, on the other hand, continued to be very vague when the moderators (and audience) tried to get specifics about policies from him. He talked a lot about how bad he considers Clinton to be, but still has no real answers to the problems facing this nation.
Trump also dropped the ball when trying to explain away his lewd tape. He ignored the fact that Anderson Cooper was trying to point out -- that groping others is sexual assault, and tried to minimize his criminal statements by passing it off as "locker room talk".
Trump also made the biggest gaffe of the night by saying he would appoint a special prosecutor and lock Clinton up if elected president. That's outrageous! That's the kind of thing tin pot dictators do to their opponents in third world countries. It's undemocratic, and I don't think it will sell to the public at large.
I'm sure we'll hear a lot of those from the radical right saying Trump won the debate. That's because he said all the things they wanted him to say. He did probably shore up his base in the second debate. But that's not what he needed to do. He needed to win over new voters, and he didn't do that.
I think Hillary Clinton was the clear winner in the debate, and Trump did nothing to help himself win the White House.
NOTE -- The first poll done on the debate, by CNN, also had the public thinking Clinton was the debate winner (57% to 34%). Although they said Trump did better than expected, they did not think he won the debate.
