By DANIEL LLOVERAS<\/p>\n
At Monday night’s first presidential debate, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump faced off on issues such as taxes, gun control and foreign policy. The candidates also exchanged personal blows, with Clinton criticizing\u00a0her opponent’s inexperience and sexism and Trump attacking his opponent’s e-mails and temperament.<\/p>\n
While the process of\u00a0declaring a debate winner\u00a0is subjective, journalists do it in order to provide a summary for those unable or unwilling to watch the\u00a0debate.<\/p>\n
Many national news organizations, including CNN, NBC News and\u00a0The New York Times<\/em>, claimed that Clinton won the debate with her preparation and attacks on Trump’s sexist insults and unreleased tax returns.<\/p>\n However, Trump insists that he defeated Clinton during the debate and went so far as to assert that the debate was fixed by moderator Lester Holt.<\/p>\n “I had to put up with the anchor and fight the anchor all the time on everything I said,” Trump told supporters at a New Hampshire rally. “What a rigged deal.”<\/p>\n Trump’s denial of Clinton’s impressive performance shows why declaring a winner of a presidential debate is useless. Regardless of how unprepared Trump may have seemed and how poised his opponent may have been, his supporters will continue to focus on Clinton’s apparent lack of trustworthiness.<\/p>\n Debate coverage dramatizes the event and embellishes the importance of declaring a winner. In reality, the two-party system polarizes the country, and voters watching the debates are unlikely to change their opinions based on the candidates’ performance.\u00a0 When the candidates themselves deny debate results,\u00a0supporters are likely to do so as well.<\/p>\n Debate coverage should focus on informing voters and describing the candidates’ opinions on key issues instead of treating the events like the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By DANIEL LLOVERAS At Monday night’s first presidential debate, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump faced off on issues such as taxes, gun control and foreign policy. The candidates also exchanged personal blows, with Clinton criticizing\u00a0her opponent’s inexperience and sexism and … Continue reading