- Title: Reactions far from mixed at D.C. debate watch party
- Date: 27th September 2016
- Summary: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (SEPTEMBER 26, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF A DEBATE WATCHING PARTY AT A WASHINGTON D.C. SPORTS BAR (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNDECIDED VOTER, ANTONIO MCTIER, SAYING: " I really wish they would have prepared Trump a little bit better, with some more facts, some more political genre, just so he could be a little educated about what he's speaking about. It's almost like an impromptu for him. But it was sincere. So I'm sure he gave it a try and he didn't come off as stupid or insensitive as he normally would. And I got to give him some respect on that one." MORE VARIOUS OF THE DEBATE WATCHING PARTY (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNDECIDED VOTER, KEVIN BROOKS, SAYING: "Overall, disappointed. I didn't hear a lot of reasons to vote for either candidate. I heard a lot of tit-for-tat. I heard a lot of attacks. I heard an awful lot of people defending themselves against those attacks, but didn't really tell me much about why I should vote for either candidate." MORE VARIOUS OF THE DEBATE WATCHING PARTY (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNDECIDED VOTER, KEVIN BROOKS, SAYING: "Hillary Clinton probably won the SOUNDBITE war, I would say. I think Donald Trump got, she was effective in taking him down in the weeds, defending the positions. He actually sounded wonkish." MORE VARIOUS OF THE DEBATE WATCHING PARTY (SOUNDBITE) (English) HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER, DARREN WOODRUFF, SAYING: "I think he succeeded in trying to seem like he was being subdued but I really think that Hillary was pretty effective in exposing a lot of his flaws." MORE VARIOUS OF THE DEBATE WATCHING PARTY (SOUNDBITE) (English) HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER, JOHN MALSON, SAYING: "Hillary won the debate because she was very calm. She was very assured. She had very good answers to his attacks. And he did not seem to respond nearly as well in responding to her. And some of these things that we, sitting at the table we were thinking -- because if you do any type of research and actually look at the facts, a lot of what he was saying was obviously not true. And that was bothersome, that he would actually go into a debate bringing in ideas that are proven not to be true. Why would he do that to begin with?" MORE VARIOUS OF THE DEBATE WATCHING PARTY (SOUNDBITE) (English) HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER, JOSHUAH MARSHALL, SAYING: "I think what the debates do is really just like calcify what people already know. So for those of us who are for Mrs. Clinton or for Mr. Trump we're going to stay in our camps." MORE VARIOUS OF THE DEBATE WATCHING PARTY (SOUNDBITE) (English) HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER, JOSHUAH MARSHALL, SAYING: "I think she did her job. I think Trump made his base more secure but he didn't outreach. He's at his ceiling right now and I think he didn't make it past that in this debate." MORE VARIOUS OF THE DEBATE WATCHING PARTY
- Embargoed: 12th October 2016 06:15
- Keywords: U.S. presidential election campaign first debate New York Hillary Clinton Donald Trump debate watch party
- Location: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
- City: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVA00151CBTXJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Residents in Washington D.C. who watched the first U.S. presidential debate at a local bar on Monday (September 26) said the much-anticipated debate between White House hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump did little to actually move voter sentiment especially among the undecided.
Several hundred people packed the basement lounge of Penn Social in Northwest Washington D.C., to watch the first of three debates between the Democratic and Republican presidential nominees.
Opinion polls have shown the two candidates in a very tight race, with the latest Reuters/Ipsos polling showing Clinton ahead by 4 percentage points, with 41 percent of likely voters.
The debate was a chance to win over the roughly 27 million Americans who have yet to decide who to vote for.
Among the undecided at the watch party was Antonio Mctier, 47, an accountant and D.C. resident. He said he appreciated Trump's "sincerity" as a candidate and wished his handlers had better prepared him for the debate.
"It's almost like an impromptu for him. But it was sincere. So I'm sure he gave it a try and he didn't come off as stupid or insensitive as he normally would," Mctier said.
New York resident Kevin Brooks was also an undecided voter in the crowd Monday night. The 52-year-old who works in renewable energy development projects said he was "disappointed" in the much-anticipated debate.
"I heard a lot of tit-for-tat. I heard a lot of attacks. I heard an awful lot of people defending themselves against those attacks, but didn't really tell me much about why I should vote for either candidate," Brooks said.
Several Hillary Clinton supporters interviewed all said their candidate won the debate.
Darren Woodruff, 53, a D.C. resident who works with charter schools, said he was confounded why anyone would remain undecided at this point in the campaign and that Clinton was "pretty effective in exposing a lot of (Trumps') flaws" during the debate.
Joshuah Marshall, 32, a public health policy analyst in Washington, said he was excited about Monday's debate but that, like most debates, it only "calcifies" what "people already know".
Clinton accused Trump of racism, sexism and tax avoidance during the heated debate that could reshape the 2016 campaign for the White House.
Trump, a real estate tycoon making his first run for public office, said Clinton's long years of service represented "bad experience" with few results and suggested her disavowal of a trade deal with Asian countries was insincere.
For Trump, 70, the debate was a chance to appear disciplined. For Clinton, 68, it was an opportunity to reassure voters she could be trusted. It remained to be seen how voters would judge their performance.
John Malson, 63, a state demographer from Sacramento, said Clinton appeared to have won the debate and that Trump was unable to respond to attacks.
"A lot of what he was saying was obviously not true. And that was bothersome, that he would actually go into a debate bringing in ideas that are proven not to be true. Why would he do that to begin with?" he asked.
A second Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Monday showed half of America's likely voters would rely on the debates to help them make their choice. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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