Who Won The Presidential Debate?

By Dylan King

With the 2016 Presidential election speeding towards the American people, the two major
party nominees took the stage for their first debate with the goal of winning the oval office.
Arguing the conservative side Donald Trump arrived at the debate ready to present his plan to
revive the American economy and, Make America Great Again! Hillary Clinton, Donalds
opponent, is committed to creating economic equality through her more liberal concepts. After
ninety minutes of intense debate between the two candidates the question remains; Who won? To
answer this question one must first decide how one, wins a debate. Then apply that definition
to the debate between Trump and Clinton.
Over the last 60 years every Presidential election has contained a debate between the final
candidates. These debates serve the purpose of asking both candidates how they will handle
current issues and through what way they will better the United States if they are sworn into
office. There are many ways in which a debate can be judged whether through the lens of a
democratic voter, libertarian, environmentalist, veteran, lower class citizen, higher class citizen,
or republican. One must judge not based on class or political stance but on the actual content
presented by each candidate. Regardless of their political bias a debate participant should be
providing their opinion supported by facts in order to reach their target audiences. Therefore,
debates should be graded on who presented the most correct information in 90 minutes. On the
contrary it is possible for a candidate to provide a mass of information without it necessarily
being true. For example, in the 2012 debate between Governor Mitt Romney and President
Barack Obama Romney was quoted as saying that, President Obama sold Chrysler to Italians
who are going to build Jeeps in China" at the cost of American jobs1. Although it was a claim
that supported his point it was not truthful and should not contribute to him winning the debate.
An example of a claim supported by evidence can be found in the 2016 presidential debate in
which Hillary Clinton states, For 40 years everyone running for President has released their tax
returns This is a point that she makes which she can back up with evidence2. This is a legitimate
claim and should contribute to her winning the debate. Now that the grounds for winning a
debate from this perspective have been established one can move on to discuss this debate, and
choose a winner.
The 2016 Presidential debate is surely one that will go down in history as the most
atypical political standoff in recent years. With Trump disfiguring events to get to the most
extreme stereotypes through which to plant his political flag he ended up seeming to spurt a tired
cause. Hillary dodged blame and concerns by using the, I come from a hardworking middle
class family and am just so relatable card, like a true political pro of 30+ years. After the final
goodbyes were said the citizens of America waited for the polls to come in, the internet proof
that their candidate of choice was the debate victor. One should want to look deeper than the
results to Buzzfeed's vote of who the candidate on top was and analyze the relevance and
truthfulness which comprised their rhetoric. To do this a selected 10 minute clip is deconstructed

right at the beginning of the debate when both candidates are the most level headed. To begin,
Lester Holt, the moderator of the event, asks both candidates, How are you going to bring back
the industries that have left this country for cheaper labor overseas? Trump was the first to
respond with, Our country is in deep trouble they (China, Mexico) are taking our jobs they

are giving incentives they are doing things we dont do. The gist of his response is that we must
create tariffs for companies trying to get merchandise into the United States. Hillary
responded,They looked at my plan and said okay we can have 10 million more new
jobs.Although her response to Trump was not extremely detailed it showed that she had some
kind of evidence. Trump accused China and Mexico of stealing our jobs, but he never pointed
out a specific scenario in which this occurred. While Hillary spoke against Trump's plans by
saying that, Independent experts have reviewed their tax plans. Overall, one would come to
the conclusion that Hillary won this question due to her presentation of evidence even if its
credibility is not certain. Throughout the rest of the debate Trump routinely made false claims on
topics from the war in Iraq to the, birther movement3. While Hillary stretched the truth and
made her fair share of false claims such as her comments about TPP3, she did not reach the
record set by Trump. For this reason Hillary Clinton won the debate. She was able to present her
opinions and political position through relevant topics such as her tax plans and support her
claims with evidence that was more accurate.
After a 90 minute face off, the winner was revealed as Hillary Clinton due to her use of
factual evidence. With several more debates to come, audiences eagerly wait to see if Hillary
will maintain her title as debate champion.

Holan, Angie D. "Lie of the Year: The Romney Campaign's Ad on Jeeps Made in China."
PolitiFact. N.p., 12 Dec. 2012. Web. 03 Oct. 2016.
2

"Tax History Project -- Presidential Tax Returns." Tax History Project -- Presidential Tax
Returns. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Oct. 2016.
3

Timm, Jane C. "20 Fact-Checks From the First Presidential Debate."CNBC.com. CNBC, 27
Sept. 2016. Web. 3 Oct. 2016.

Rubric
8-7
Very strong
execution of the
standard

Total Points: 48
5-6
Meets the
standard with
some room for
improvement

3-4
Approaching the
standard- almost
there!

1-2
Below the
standard

0
Standard is not
present

Thesis and Introduction (8 points)

Introduction clearly outlines the context for your
essay
Thesis responds to the prompt in a way that is
succinct, focused, and direct
Organization (8 x 2= 16 points)
Topic sentences support argument in thesis
Topic sentences are clear, succinct, and direct
Topic sentences guide paragraph content
Paragraphs are organized in a clear, effective manner
(such as T, E, A, E, A, etc).
Effective transitions link ideas together so that
paragraphs flow in a logical way.
Careful Thinking/Argumentation (8x2=16 points)
Criteria for winning the debate are clearly
established
The reasons for your judgement are made clear to
the reader
Sufficient evidence/examples from debate are used
to support claims
Arguments are well-supported, without unsupported
generalizations or misinterpretations.
Commentary and evaluation show deep insight and
complex thinking
Sentence Craft, Style, and Proofreading (8 points)
Quotes and evidence are introduced and seamlessly
integrated
Essay exemplifies beautiful work in its sentence
craft, word choice, and proofreading.
No errors, typos, etc.