What just happened in St. Louis?
The pre-debate analysis predicted a disaster. The pundits said Donald J. Trump was going to steer the debate into the gutter in response to that hideous video recording in which he bragged about being able to commit sexual assault on women.
That discussion occurred only briefly.
Trump and Hillary Rodham Clinton seemed a bit on edge tonight.
Two big takeaways …
First,Ā Trump, the Republican nominee for president, disagrees with his running mate Mike Pence that the United States needs to punish Russia for its continued bombing of rebels seeking to topple the Syrian government of Bashar al Assad.
Second, Trump vowed to put Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in jail over the e-mail controversy if he gets elected president. I do not believe that’s ever been stated quite like that in a debate between two major-party nominees for the presidency.
OK, maybe a third takeaway.
The sex-related rhetorical bloodbath thatĀ all those punditsĀ said would occur … didn’t happen.