Local experts grade Clinton higher

Hillary Clinton came off better than Donald Trump by staying more on message and keeping her cool most of the time, a group of regional political experts contacted immediately after Wednesday night’s debate concluded.

There were no knockout punches on either side, not very much new ground was broken and some viewers no doubt hailed the fact it was the candidates’ last matchup on a debate stage. Moderator Chris Wallace may have done the best job in any of the debates with the difficult task of keeping the candidates on task.

The Spokesman-Review asked five people familiar with elections, politics and governments to grade the two candidates, and all five gave Clinton a “B” or better. Trump’s grades were mixed, although most thought he started the night strong before going off on some tangents as the debate wore on.

Several said one thing likely to be much discussed and long remembered was Trump’s answer to Wallace’s question about accepting the results of the election. His running mate Mike Pence and his daughter Ivanka have both said recently that, of course, they would accept the results, Wallace noted.

Trump, who has been warning of a “rigged” election at his rallies, would say only, in essence, we’ll see/Jim Camden, SR. More here.

Question: How would you grade the candidates last night?