Politics at 3:00am

So the first Presidential debate for 2016 is past and the fall out continues on both sides.   Many pundits agree that Hillary Clinton won the first debate and she has been rewarded with a rise in some of the state polls.   Clinton and the other guy* were nearly dead even in the polls just prior to the first debate.  Now, post-debate, she is enjoying at least a four point lead in some states.

This is a good thing.  It was nice to see someone on the national political stage act so, so, oh what is the word I’m looking for?   Oh, yes, grown-up!  It is nice to see someone running for high office acting like an adult!

Clinton managed to stay focused on the issues the American electorate should be concerned about for most of the debate.  Then towards the end she allowed herself to be dragged down into the other guy’s area of innuendo.  It was her way of highlighting his temperament towards others and, consequently, his unsuitability to be President. 

She brought up his attitudes towards women by ticking off his past quotes:  television personality Rosie O’Donnell is a “pig”; pregnant female employees are an “inconvenience” to their employers; calling a Miss Universe pageant contestant (and eventual winner) “Miss Piggy”, among his other greatest sound bite hits. The Miss Universe story must have really gotten under his skin.  The guy not only walked into Clinton’s trap, but continued to wallow in it for the remainder of the week.

A better man/politician would have taken the high road after the debate and concentrated on the issues.  Not our boy!  The very next morning he telephoned an interview on his favorite morning news show and reiterated his experiences with this Miss Universe contestant,  which opened the misogynistic wounds (and proved Clinton’s point) all over again.

Later in the week he returned to his favorite style of communication and resorted to typing a series of overnight tweets about how the Clinton campaign had chosen a poor role model in using the Miss Universe pageant winner as their symbol for his temperamental shortcomings.   He decried that Clinton’s symbol has run afoul of the law on a few occasions and hinted that there might be a sex tape in her past. 

So this is where the Republican nominee has led his campaign!  Instead of reiterating and detailing his plans to make America anything but xenophobic again, he went back to his old playbook that has gotten him wild applause from his supporters and his party’s nomination. 

Within a day of the overnight Twitter attacks, Clinton responded with her own tweet (at 3:28am) talking up the idea of national service.  No insults directed at her own opponent, no innuendo about his past, and certainly no fat shaming beauty pageant contestants.  Imagine!   A politician talking about ideas!   What is the political world coming to?

This brings to mind a campaign tactic produced and broadcast when President Obama ran in the primaries for his first term in 2008.  A campaign ad by his opponent raised the question about the call at 3:00am when a President may be notified of a crisis which would have to be dealt with immediately.  The ads questioned whether Barack Obama, having only served one term as a Senator, would be up to the challenge of making such a decision.  

Obama’s opponent in that race?  Hillary Clinton!

I would love to see this ad revived against what’s his name.  On the other hand the ad may not have any credibility at this point.  We now know that politicians are too busy tweeting at 3:00am to answer the phone.

*I’ve forgotten his name at the moment, which is probably a good a way as any to disrespect his brand.

(Thank you for reading.  Everyone, if your phone rings at 3:00am with a message or a call, just ignore it and go back to sleep.  Seriously, we all need to rest at that hour.)