By Fatima Hassan

U.S. presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump faced off in the second presidential debate of the 2016 U.S. elections on Sunday, Oct. 9. The debate was conducted in a ‘town hall’ format featuring questions from undecided voters. As done after the previous debate, Northwestern University in Qatar’s media and political analysts came together on Wednesday, Oct. 12 to reflect on the candidates’ performance. The event was attended by a mix of students and faculty, with approximately 60 people in attendance.  

Director of the Communication Program Scott Curtis and Assistant Professor Jocelyn Mitchell were part of the panel.

Mitchell began by saying that the town hall debate was a new kind of debate introduced in 1992 at the suggestion of former U.S. president Bill Clinton. She then played a segment of a video from that debate of Bill Clinton successfully answering a question from an audience member, which many political pundits say helped him win the presidency that year. Curtis analyzed the behavior of the candidates during the said debate.

“One of the ways he [Bill Clinton] addresses the question is going to the person and talking to them,” he said. “You can see he felt their pain. The goal of the candidates is to have a moment of empathy with the audience.”

The panelists then screened the beginning of the 2016 town hall debate, showing Hillary Clinton modelling the behavior of her husband when speaking to an audience member.

“She follows the standard town hall debate behavior,” Curtis said. “She moves around and faces the audience member, allowing the camera to move around in different angles showing a shot of how she and the audience relate.”

Trump however, did not go near the audience, but instead stood stoic. His behavior seemed to give off an air of indifference in comparison to Hillary. His lack of movement allowed the TV channel to produce a split screen effect, comparing him and Clinton, which did not bode well for Trump, as Hillary appeared more likeable in her interactions, according to Mitchell.

“Clinton is being conventional, relaying the message that she has a stable temperament and the right experience to do good work and keep people safe,” Mitchell said. “She is directing her message to the 10-15 percent of the voters who are undecided, and considering how the entire town hall audience comprises of undecided voters. She is speaking directly to them.”

Trump’s behavior, however, fed into his image of being the unconventional candidate.  “I felt like he was speaking to his base, making sure that it does not disappear,” Mitchell said. “While the polls tell us that his base is not more than 40 percent, Trump seems to think that his base is bigger.”

Curtis expanded on this point, stating there are 47 million eligible voters in America without college degrees who did not register to vote in the last election. This is the voter base that Trump is trying to appeal to, Curtis said. If he is able to convince them to register and vote for him, there is a high chance the American public will find Trump being sworn into the Oval Office next year, Curtis added.

Clinton’s strategy for appealing to voters was to take a pragmatic approach on the issues and not overpromise. Trump, however, did not hold back overpromising on everything, according to the panelists, who added that the utopian image Trump tried to convey could appeal to people on both ends of the political spectrum.

However, “the other parts of himself that he brings are not as appealing,” Curtis said.

Another major point of concern in the debate was Trump’s unprecedented threat to jail Hillary Clinton if he becomes president.

“This is not how law and order are supposed to be used,” Mitchell said. “Rule of law means powers are invested in institutions, not people. People come and go but institutions remain and they are fair. They are not used to consolidate and wield power against opponents.”

This encapsulates the problem of electing someone who does not understand the rule of law, she added.

Curtis noted that in this election, the candidates are much more blatant in their criticism of each other and are not throwing veiled jabs as candidates used to do in past decades. He said this is because U.S. political discourse has eroded over time.

Mitchell said Clinton would need to win by a landslide in order to prevent a similar candidate like Trump from rising in the future: “If Trump wins, we will see a whole new era of politics in America. If he loses by a small margin, people might still want to follow in his footsteps. Clinton needs to win by a landslide.”

The third presidential debate panel at NU-Q will be held a week after the final presidential debate, which is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct, 19.