A Decisive Victory

Journalists and editorial boards across the country are in agreement: Hillary Clinton scored a decisive victory over Donald Trump in the third debate:

Denver Post: Editorial Board: Abandoned by much of his party and shooting for an almost non-existent path to victory, Donald Trump needed something Wednesday night. Unfortunately, it is likely too late in the game for that something to be a victory in a well-reasoned, substantive debate. So instead, when Fox News anchor Chris Wallace asked if Trump would honor the outcome of the election he said: “I will tell you at the time. I will keep you in suspense.”

Cincinnati Enquirer: Editorial Board: Donald Trump’s claims of a rigged presidential election aren’t only unprecedented and irresponsible. They are dangerous. He crossed yet another line during Wednesday’s final debate when he doubled down by refusing to say if he would honor the election results and concede to Hillary Clinton if he lost.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Jim Galloway: As was the case in the previous debates, Hillary Clinton exhibited a forceful non-verbal presence.  She was disciplined and did not regularly interrupt Donald Trump.  When Donald Trump interrupted her, she did a better job of finishing her answers than she did in Debate One. She was measured and forceful in these exchanges. This practice will pay dividends with undecided voters who may be increasingly concerned with Donald Trump’s treatment of women and were looking for someone to stand up to him.

Baltimore Sun: Cathleen Decker: Donald Trump needed a compelling victory in Wednesday’s debate to alter the course of a campaign that has increasingly moved toward Hillary Clinton both nationally and in key states. He did not get it. . .The most immediate damage came with the line that dominated post-debate news coverage and is likely to be the debate’s most memorable moment: his refusal to say he would accept the results, win or lose, and conform to the country’s tradition of a peaceful transfer of power.

Cleveland.com: Andrew J. Tobias: During Wednesday night's third and final presidential debate, Republican nominee Donald Trump would not commit to conceding the November election if he were to lose the race. In doing so, Trump left open the possibility that he will obstruct what moderator Chris Wallace referred to as "one of the prides of this country ... the peaceful transition of power." Election officials — Republican and Democrat — have responded with alarm as Trump has raised the specter that somehow the election could be stolen from him at the ballot box, even though evidence shows that voter fraud is rare and not significant enough to swing a national election.

Miami Herald: Patricia Mazzei: Instead of broadening his appeal to undecided and swing voters Wednesday, Trump appeared aware at the start of debate of his recent political losses among Republicans. He spent much of the time articulating positions — on the U.S. Supreme Court, gun rights and abortion rights — aimed at reassuring conservatives. “The Supreme Court: It’s what it’s all about,” he said. Despite his ongoing trouble winning over female voters, Trump at one point interrupted Clinton to call her “such a nasty woman.”

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Craig Gilbert: In another blunt departure from the norms of presidential politics, Donald Trump refused to say Wednesday whether he would accept the results of the upcoming election. “I will look at it at the time,” Trump said at his third and final presidential debate with Hillary Clinton, his last chance before a mass television audience to turn around a contest in which he has lost ground for weeks. “I will keep you in suspense,” Trump said when moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News cited his claims of a rigged election and asked him whether he would honor the outcome of the voting. Clinton replied, “That’s horrifying … that’s not the way our democracy works.”

Boston Globe: Scot Lehigh: With Trump, there’s always a moment when the curtain opens on the true nature of his mental processes. In Wednesday’s debate, it wasn’t just a moment, it was an epoch. It came when moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News — who did a terrific, probing, even-handed job — asked if he would accept the result of the election. . . But all Trump would say was: “I will tell you at the time.” He then launched into a multilayered conspiracy theory: The media was poisoning the minds of the voters. . Most voters have come to the conclusion that he’s just not a good fit for the White House. This final debate only reinforced that impression.

Las Vegas Sun: Megan Messerly: In one the more surprising moments of the debate, Wallace asked Trump whether he would accept the results of the election, given the fact that Trump has recently been stoking concerns that the election might be “rigged.” Wallace noted that, no matter how fraught elections have been, there is always a “peaceful transition of power” in the U.S. Trump, however, declined to say that he would outright accept the results of the election. “I will tell you at the time,” was Trump’s response. “I will keep you in suspense.”

Detroit Free Press: Editorial Board: That Republican nominee Donald Trump has suggested that American elections are rigged is an accusation barely worth addressing. Aside from the sheer scope of such an endeavor – voting in Michigan, for example, is conducted by city and township clerks, tabulated by machines that are not connected to the internet – there is simply no evidence that intentional voter fraud is a serious problem.

Dallas Morning News: Robert T. Garrett: Clinton's best attack line, though, was this: "We have undocumented immigrants in America who are paying more federal income tax than a billionaire. I find that astonishing."...But the TV networks' immediate takeaway had to do with a self-inflicted wound -- the moment when he was asked if he'd accept the election's outcome, win or lose. "I will tell you at the time. I will keep you in suspense," he said. That gave Clinton an opening, and she took it, noting that for 240 years, the losers of our presidential elections have conceded defeat.

Los Angeles Times: Staff: What will be remembered from this debate? Three things: Trump’s refusal to say he would accept the result of the election if he loses. Trump’s inability to answer charges that he has behaved abusively toward women. And Trump’s return to the truculent, angry man of the first debate, interrupting Clinton repeatedly (saying, at one point, “Such a nasty woman”). Trump, who’s behind, needed to change the direction of the campaign and show undecided voters that he can be thoughtful and measured when the situation requires. He failed.

Chicago Sun-Times: Lynn Sweet: The pressure was on Trump to deliver a game-changer. He did not.Clinton prevailed in all three debates. Nothing got under her skin because she was ready for anything. In the scheme of things, Trump calling her “such a nasty woman” wasn’t much. The big take-away from the debate is that Trump said he may not accept the outcome if he is defeated on Nov. 8. Instead of using the debate to broaden his appeal, he’s now stuck in a bad place: How he will handle his defeat?

Detroit Free Press: Brian Dickerson: The debates are over. The die is cast. Millions of Americans have already voted, and sometime late on Nov. 8, when all the rest of the ballots have been tabulated, the peoples’ verdict will be clear, and then . . . And then? Well, it depends on what sort of mood Donald Trump is in. “I will tell you at the time,” he told FOX News’ astonished Chris Wallace, who’d asked the Republican nominee to confirm that he, like every other presidential aspirant since the end of the Civil War, would recognize whoever got the most votes in the election as the legitimate heir to the Oval Office. It wasn’t a hard question.