Four years ago, you could have almost seen Bill Clinton’s thought bubble as he watched Barack Obama’s weak and listless performance against Mitt Romney during the first presidential debate: “I can’t believe we lost to this guy.”
Mr. Clinton never would have mailed it in the way Mr. Obama did. He may have lost some of his old magic, but he’s still got the golden touch.
His wife, however, never had it — and clearly never will, as evidenced by her plodding and grating debate performance against Donald Trump this week. At the same time, Mr. Trump was aggressive, projecting authority even when he was on relatively shaky ground. Unlike others who have opposed her, he didn’t care that she was a Clinton or a Democrat or a woman. He didn’t defer to her, offer special treatment or allow her a wide berth for Clintonian parsing.
Relishing his outsider role, he positioned her squarely in her role of status quo incumbent. By doing so and by clearing the bar of appearing a reasonable man and plausible president, he lived to fight another day.
Because he’s never done this before, voters give him a lot more running room to make mistakes and find his bearings. The fact that he more than held his own on the biggest political stage on earth is astounding. The traditional metrics don’t apply to this candidate or this election year, which is why he was able to walk away not just intact but perhaps stronger....
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