My Take on the Nat Sec Forum

ByJOSH MARSHALL
Published SEPTEMBER 7, 2016, 9:27 PM EDT

7. The last point is I think the big one. You couldn't watch Trump and be under any illusion that he has any idea what he's talking about about really anything. I think we can dispense with any idea that Trump is going to bone up on a handful of policy points and use them during the debates. He totally winged and it showed. Someone I respect greatly said on Twitter that watching the debate we should dispense with the idea that Clinton will mop the floor with Trump in the debate. I've never thought she'd mop the floor with him. But I thought my friend greatly misjudged Trump's performance. The exchange where Lauer kept asking him why he wouldn't discuss his ISIS plans and then asked why he had to ask the generals if he had a plan and then Trump said well, maybe I'll combine the two plans ... this is a case where people are selling Lauer a bit short. That made Trump look like a jackass. People know from a young age when someone is trying to bullshit their way out of question. Trump has no idea what he's going to do about ISIS. It was just nonsense and word salad. I think that was clear in a way that would transcend ideology.

Many people will say, well, people don't listen closely, they're easily snowed. Look how well George Bush did and he obviously knew nothing. I think the truth is a bit different about Bush. He was green and ill-versed in policy. But he went into the debates with a handful of broad themes and stuck to them. That's not what happened here with Trump. He was all over the place and I think his ignorance and boastfulness was on a display in a not at all helpful way.

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