Washington University POTUS debate at 9pm ET **live commentary thread**

[HagridOfTheDeep]

I'm not sure how you rebut charges based on nothing but gut feelings. She's doing well, all things considered.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

He's doing better than last time. I'm always pessimistic about these, though. My thoughts on the last one were that he did better than the public thought.

I'm not certain he's doing better than last time, but Hillary is doing a fair bit worse.

Her responses are a lot less crisp. It's obvious she's not having fun anymore. And there's no reason why she should be. The first little bit of the debate was just so offputting.

Also, how many audience questions have there been? Three?

[HagridOfTheDeep]

So, Hillary needs to practice answering questions sharply and within time. If someone asks about an issue, she doesn't need to waste time meandering by "agreeing that this is a very important issue."

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Honestly, I think lying low was a bit of a strategic move for Clinton. The focus will be on Trump's remarks (the devil? really?), and if more pussygate-esque material drops, the media will have had some time to reset from the first time. Kind of like Mahler's "three blows of fate"

Nah. I honestly just think she didn't want to be there. The first part of the debate was draining, and Trump was so bad, and the focus of discussion was so disgusting that she got a bit demoralized. I certainly did.