If the question is, did he rally the base? Yes, he won.
If the question is, did he do better than the first debate? Yes, he won.
If the question is, did he modeled himself after Gov. Pence debating technique, yes and no. I agree, in the first half hour of the debate he moderated his voice and refrained from interrupting at his usual pace. But he abandoned the Mike Pence Technique and reverted to the interruptions (which seem to be the most offputting debate losing gaffe of all to the public) and personal attacks which, as I said, appealed to the base but not to the women in the audience.
If the question is, did he to overcome his deficit in the polls, did he do enough to run the table of battleground states which he simply must do to get to 270? No, he did not win.
The whole question for Donald Trump has been whether he is temperamentally fit for office. The bulk of the public had been ready to fire Hillary Clinton because they know what she is but they did not know what Donald Trump was. All he had to do in these debates was appear presidential, to exhibit the kind of gravitas that we expect in the leader of the free world, to reassure women that he is a responsible adult. If he had done this, he would easily beat Hillary Clinton.
In the debates then, Trump did not need to win all the points, he needed only make reasonable arguments in a modulated tone and appear presidential to become the next president.
I ask for your verdict on that issue, we know what the polls tell us the public's verdict is as shaped by the first two debates and by the campaign as well as Hillary's air blitz of negative campaign ads.
