Quick analysis #2 from SMU political experts

DALLAS (SMU) – To assist journalists covering tonight’s presidential debate, SMU election experts are providing real-time insights throughout the evening.

NAFTA IS TRENDING, AND ABOUT THAT CHINA-GLOBAL WARMING TWEET

JAKE BATSELL
jbatsell@mail.smu.edu

On early social media reaction to debat…

• “Lots of commentary about his yelling and interrupting Clinton, and whether it’s presidential. Also, there’s quite a bit of focus on his 2012 tweet about China creating the concept of global warming, which was mentioned early by Clinton. The top early Google search trend is NAFTA.”

Batsell is an SMU associate professor of Journalism and a social media specialist.

WILL TRADITIONAL MISTAKES STING TRUMP?

MATTHEW WILSON
jmwilson@smu.edu

On Trump discussing his wealth …

• “It really violates conventional wisdom to talk about how rich he is. But then, he’s violating conventional wisdom all along.”

On the Tax returns debate …

• “The tax returns are a bad issue for Trump, but it takes a lot of chutzpah for Hillary to talk about somebody hiding something.”

Wilson is an SMU associate professor of Political Science with specific expertise in politics and religion.

NAFTA AND TAXES DEFINE ECONOMICS SEGMENT

STEPHANIE MARTIN
samartin@mail.smu.edu

On who won the economic segment …

• “Trump did well with NAFTA, despite facts not being on his side. But people don’t like it, so he got that point. The taxes thing was bad for him. Clinton handled it well. Him describing bankruptcy as his best business practice, not paying people as a best business practicethat’s just stupid.”

Martin is an SMU assistant professor of Communication Studies in the Meadows School of the Arts.

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