THE MADISON BRIEF: 

Nothing to Lose:  After his poor performance in the first debate, then the embarrassment of his vulgar remarks about women in the Access Hollywood video, Donald Trump’s back was against the wall.  His calculus was clear: forget the GOP operatives, bring up Bill Clinton’s past indiscretions to counter his own, throw them in Hillary’s face to rattle her, fight like a bully and bite harder than a junkyard dog.  Stage another classic “take no prisoners” Trump comeback tour.  If he loses the presidency, he retains his brand and can place the blame for his loss squarely on the GOP who abandoned him.  If he wins the presidency, his brand is bigger, better, grander — and he will have destroyed  the Grand Old Party.

Everything to Lose: The GOP establishment’s angst about Trump is at an all time high. Buoyed by a glimmer of hope that they could remove Trump from the ticket when the video surfaced, a number of GOP legislators  jumped at the opportunity to withdraw their endorsement.   Alas,Trump survived to live another day;  he single-handedly staged a press conference to parade women from Bill Clinton’s  past, sat them in the debate hall to unnerve Clinton, and counter punched repeatedly during the debate.  By Monday, he had stopped the bleeding, and any thought of replacing him as the candidate was gone.  The audaciousness of it all was jaw-dropping.  

Win with a Draw:  Clinton, who maintained her composure throughout the debate,  had some good moments, but did not match  her performance from last week.  A slip up?  No.   In truth, the Clinton campaign chose not to be as assertive in this debate, adopting the  “let Trump hang himself” approach.  If he happened to do well, a draw is a win; there isn’t much time remaining in the election. Moreover, there are some politicos who believe that the Clinton campaign needed Trump to do well enough to stay in the race.  Pence at the top of the ticket would have been dangerous.

Just Like a Zoo from Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlor:  For Trump supporters who believe that Hillary Clinton needs to answer for her mishandling of emails, Trump’s debate promise to prosecute her was thrilling.   Unfortunately, even though Trump’s climactic debate rhetoric may have been cathartic to many voters,  WSJ/NBC released polls this morning that show Clinton leading Trump nationally by the largest margin thus far, 46% – 35%.  So what is the best analogy here?  The satisfaction of dreaming about, then finally eating,  a Farrell’s Zoo Sundae (thirty scoops of ice cream, three toppings, sprinkles, bananas and cherries) often results in a stomach ache and a brain freeze hangover in the morning.  So satisfying at the time, but then reality sets in the next morning.  No President of the United States has the authority to use the justice system to settle political scores.  It’s time to move on.  

Towel Snapping Language:  Trump’s boorish language regarding women may not be easily excused by the voters simply by calling it “locker room talk”.  At the debate, undecided female voters were open to hearing him talk about this ten year old transgression in the hopes that he would show some contrition.  Instead they heard him rationalize — even try to  normalize — his offensive language and deny the deviant sexual assault that he alluded to.  Big mistake.   Women won’t buy it, and women are the voters who will decide this election.  

Channeling Abraham Lincoln: This week, Wikileaks released a series of hacked emails from John Podesta, Clinton’s Campaign manager, revealing instances when Clinton’s public statements did not always align with her private leanings within the campaign.    When Trump confronted her about this, she said she was discussing President Lincoln’s’ attempts to sway Congress during the civil war.  In the future, she might be well-advised to heed this prophetic advice from President Lincoln:   “If once you forfeit the confidence of your fellow-citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem.”