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A few thoughts on last night’s US Presidential debate.
Trump is unavoidable in the media, and I think last night was probably the first time for the overwhelming majority of the people to see how Trump acts and speaks through an unfiltered lens. We’ve all seen the sound-bites, highlights, and even the incoherent blunders that both him and the many pronged media outlets have produced; but seldom do people have the time to fully take him in and become familiar with his platform, uninterrupted. That’s why a full 1.5 hour exposure of him was just what the people needed. Think about it like quote mining: on its own a quote has a tendency to make a person think about its message at face value- but in full context, a specific quote can have a much different meaning and impact relative to the full message.
Well what can I say about Trump? The guy is neither a politician nor an orator- and that was quickly learned by many who haven’t been fully exposed to him before. His words didn’t flow in stanzas, his rhetoric skill was mild, and his inability to stay concise on a few topics was quite apparent. But where he suffered in public speaking, he made up for in conviction. A big part of Trump’s appeal for many people is his ability to speak his mind unadulterated. No matter what he’s saying, he’s always unhinged with respect to his own political ideologies. However, there were a lot of times where I wish he would have set some things aside such as questions and accusations that grilled the nature of his character. For him, his integrity is important and when it’s attacked, for example, through wilfully ignorant remarks about his chapter 11 bankruptcies - he has to attempt to set the record straight. Often times that’s done in a manner that is devoid of any respect for his political demeanour (like the time when he defends his knowledge and use of legalese that are of less than savoury nature). 90% of the time it’s a fool’s errand for him to do this because it delves into the realm of damage control which indirectly puts him in a negative and petty light. For the most part however, he did what he does best, and that’s being confident, thinking out loud what he believes in, and giving a raw yet genuine performance.
