Final 2016 Debate: The Five Moments That Matter

Both candidates did what they set out to do Wednesday at the last presidential debate. Republican Donald Trump delivered a calm yet aggressive performance, while Democrat Hillary Clinton played it safe and avoided a major gaffe.

Clinton is the equivalent of a junk-ball baseball pitcher whose fastball never gets above 85 mph, but who grinds and grinds and never loses composure. With a big lead in the polls and time quickly running out, it may be enough.

“That was a great pivot off the fact that she wants open borders, OK? How did we get on to Putin?”

Did anything happen Wednesday to alter that trajectory? Time will tell, but here are five moments that people will be talking about Thursday:

1.) Trump’s refusal to promise to accept the election results.
Asked by moderator Chris Wallace, Trump said, “What I ‘m saying is that I will tell you at the time. I’ll keep you in suspense.”

Trump employed the “rigged system” strategy with great success during the GOP primaries, when rival Ted Cruz was taking advantage of arcane rules to scoop up delegates in states without primaries or caucuses — and in some cases, even in states where Trump got the most votes.

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Many voters, not understanding the complicated process, agreed Trump was getting a raw deal. And he benefited.

In the context of the general election, however, Trump is running up against a mythology that has built up over decades that losers always graciously accept the results of elections. Never mind that it was just 16 years ago that the Democratic nominee for president, Al Gore, sent an army of lawyers into courts in a futile effort to overturn the outcome of the 2000 election.

But Clinton gave an effective answer that cast her as the defender of American democracy — a rare opportunity for her to occupy the high ground.

“He is denigrating — he’s talking down our democracy,” she said.

Clinton reminded voters that Trump’s penchant for griping about results dates even to complaints that he did not win an Emmy as host of “The Apprentice,” but the New York billionaire took the edge off with a quick quip, “Should have gotten it.”

The issue likely will dominate coverage of the debate for days, overshadowing Trump’s strong performance elsewhere.

2.) The Supreme Court.
Ideological control of the high court long has been a flash point for both liberals and conservatives, but has received scant attention during the debates.

Clinton explicitly promised to appoint judges who would uphold same-sex marriage and Roe v. Wade, as well as overturn the Citizens United case that opened up politics to unlimited spending by outside groups. It is a remarkable departure from candidates’ traditional insistence that they would not have a litmus test for the high court.

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Clinton also announced her view of judges not to uphold the Constitution or the law as written but to “stand on the side of the American people, not on the side of the powerful corporations and the wealthy.”

Trump countered that he would appoint judges who would defend the Second Amendment, “which is under siege,” and uphold the Constitution “the way it was meant to be.” He also pointed to a list of well-regarded conservative jurists he would consider for the court.

Talking about the court is an obvious way for Trump to woo reluctant conservatives considering voting for a third party or independent candidate. He also delivered a strong rebuke of Clinton’s support of a late-tern abortion procedure known as “partial-birth abortion,” saying that it allows someone to “take the baby and rip the baby out of the womb of the mother just prior to the birth of the baby. Now, you can say that that’s OK and Hillary can say that that’s OK. But it’s not OK with me.”

3.) Immigration finally takes the stage.
Amazingly, Wednesday was the first time in three presidential debates that Trump’s signature issue came up. Clinton repeated the questionable refrain of enforcement critics that deportation breaks up families.

Trump reiterated his proposal to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border and noted his support from the union representing border patrol agents. He also smartly shifted the focus to crime, telling viewers that “We have some bad hombres here.”

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Trump delivered a strong line about drug smuggling — particularly heroin — across a largely open border.

“It’s poisoning the blood of their youth and plenty of other people … We’re getting the drugs, they’re getting the money,” he said.

Despite an invitation by Wallace to explain her plan for securing the border, Clinton offered no specifics. She also ducked a question from Wallace about a paid speech Clinton gave in which she said she dreamed of “open borders.” Clinton barely addressed the substance and instead complained the speech became public because of WikiLeaks, which she accused of being in cahoots with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

That led to Trump’s best line of the night: “That was a great pivot off the fact that she wants open borders, OK? How did we get on to Putin?”

4.) It’s the economy, stupid.
That was the famous line of James Carville, the top political strategist of former President Bill Clinton, during the 1992 election.

But Hillary Clinton must play the role of her husband’s opponent in this election — nominee of an incumbent party when the country wants change. Asked about the slow economic growth that has plagued the Obama years, she tried to thread the needle by crediting Obama with rescuing the country from a deep recession while offering hope for the future.

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“So now we’ve dug ourselves out of it, we’re standing, but we’re not yet running,” she said. “So what I am proposing is that we invest from the middle out and the ground up, not the top down. That is not going to work.”

Trump hit Clinton with, perhaps, the most effective line of attack a challenger can make. He pointed out her lack of accomplishments, one of her biggest vulnerabilities.

“Let me ask a simple question: She’s been doing this for 30 years,” he said. “Why the hell didn’t you do it over the last 15, 20 years?”

5.) Alleged Clinton Foundation corruption.
Clinton tried to deflect when Wallace asked her about State Department emails indicating that contractors who were “friends of Bill” received preferential treatment in bidding on reconstruction projects after the 2010 Haitian earthquake, while other businesses got sent to the general government website.

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Clinton insisted it had been “proven” that “everything I did as secretary of state was in furtherance of our country’s interests and our values.”

Trump held nothing back, calling the foundation a “criminal enterprise” that took tens of millions of dollars from foreign governments that mistreat women and violate human rights.

“So I’d like to ask you right now, why don’t you give back the money that you’ve taken from certain countries that treat certain groups of people so horribly?” he said. “Why don’t you give back the money? I think it would be a great gesture.”