THE DEBATE – AT 8:32 A.M. ET:  I don't care.  The only thing important about that debate is who won. 

My own sense is that Hillary got the better of it – better prepared, better poised, more skillful, even marginally likeable.  But a voter watching might not agree.  Let's see what the polls say.

Mitt Romney handily defeated Barack Obama, an incumbent president, in the first debate of the 2012 campaign, but Obama came back swinging in the next outing and won the election.

Some say presidential debates don't matter, but they do.   They can provide reassurance that a candidate about whom doubts have been raised is really up to the job, and actually the best in the race.  John F. Kennedy came into the first ever televised presidential debate in 1960 with the image of a young, unready office seeker.  But, in the view of those watching, he bested Vice President Richard M. Nixon and substantially advanced his cause.  (Those who listened on radio thought Nixon won.)  In 1980, Ronald Reagan, defined by a hostile press as a warmed-over movie actor, overwhelmed incumbent small-timer Jimmy Carter and dramatically helped his successful run for the Oval Office. 

I don't think Donald Trump helped himself last night.  He reminded me of a telegram sent by the playwright George S. Kaufman to an actor:  “Am in the rear of the theater watching your performance. Wish you were here.”

September 27,  2016