Final Debate Brings Some Voters Clarity, Others Frustration
SPARKS, Nev. (AP) — As a tumultuous campaign nears an end, undecided voters across the country watched the final debate of the U.S. presidential race with a mix of skepticism and rapt attention Wednesday night.
Some found clarity, while others remained painfully undecided just a few weeks before the election.
"I heard a lot of the same rhetoric spewed over and over again," said 41-year-old Damon Holter, who makes barbecue sauces and marinades in River Falls, Wisconsin. "I know I need to make a decision. I just don't know how to get there."
Here's what else Holter and others had to say:
SAME OLD RHETORIC
Watching the start of the debate at Bo's 'N Mine bar and grill in River Falls, Holter noticed when Clinton and Trump again did not shake hands.
"He's just like a little kid," he said when Trump began speaking.
Holter thought the GOP candidate did a better job than in the first two debates. He said he saw a "bit of a role reversal," with Trump taking charge and Clinton stumbling.
"She's no longer acting presidential" when she's interrupting Trump, Holter said.
But when Trump talked about the U.S. border with Mexico, Holter scoffed. "The whole notion of a wall is pretty ridiculous," he said.
Overall, Holter said, nothing the candidates said swayed him.
THE VERDICT: He remains undecided.
A HOUSE DIVIDED
For weeks, Chadd and Karen Bunker of suburban Sparks, Nevada, have been among the country's potentially divided households.
Karen Bunker, 53, is a staunch Democrat who supports Hillary Clinton.
Chadd Bunker, 50, a union truck driver for UPS, is registered as a Democrat but describes himself as largely politically apathetic and has been undecided about the presidential race. He watched the debate with his wife in their living room while using her laptop to keep close tabs on the Dodgers-Cubs playoff game.
Chadd Bunker noted Trump said nothing to win him over during the first half of the debate.
"He wants to be president, but he degrades our system. He degrades our Congress," Chadd Bunker said.
Bunker's wife of 25 years doesn't understand how anyone could be undecided at this point.
Trump "has no idea how to run a country," Karen Bunker said. "He's building fear in this country to such a crazy level that it scares me."
THE VERDICT: Chadd Bunker is pro-abortion rights and did not know that Trump is not. He said it's an important issue that could sway his decision. Bunker said if he had to vote today, he would probably vote for Clinton.
FIRST-GENERATION AMERICAN
Hussien Kazwini, a community college student in Toledo, Ohio, says this debate was more substantive, but there were no big moments that changed the race.
"Hillary was on the defensive, but I don't think Trump made a big splash to change or damage Hillary's momentum."
Kazwini, whose parents were born in Lebanon before coming to the United States 30 years ago, will vote in his first election. He says Trump's stand on immigration and threats to deport people "isn't morally right" but he also doesn't believe there should be open borders.
Kazwini noted Trump kept his temper in check until making the "nasty woman" comment.
"He can't help himself," Kazwini said.
THE VERDICT: He's still undecided but leaning toward Clinton. He says Trump's comments about women and his demeanor are not huge issues. However, "I want to hold a president to higher standards."
ROOKIE VOTER
Taylor Botwinis of Clinton Township, Michigan, is 26, but this will be the first time she casts a ballot in a presidential election.
Clinton is a no-go for the home-school mother of three. For Botwinis, the debate was an opportunity to hear more from Trump and decide whether to support the Republican or vote for a third-party candidate.
She filled a page with handwritten notes early in the debate but put down her pen when the discussion slid into finger-pointing over ethics, morals and fitness for office.
"The first four issues — Supreme Court, Second Amendment, abortion, immigration — I could side with Trump," she said. "Now they're nitpicking. They're just like kids."
Botwinis noted Trump didn't directly answer when asked about U.S. troops possibly going to Syria under his presidency. She liked his pledge to improve the economy, saying too many college graduates aren't working in their field of study.
Botwinis cringed when Trump called Clinton a "nasty woman."
"He's such a mess," she said. "Even if he's thinking that — have a filter."
THE VERDICT: Botwinis said she'll likely vote for Trump because of his "stances, not his personality."
SAY THE 'V' WORD
Matt Alsaeedi, 26, felt refreshed by Clinton's authenticity during much of the debate, saying an overall mistrust in government "hurts her as much as it helps her" as a candidate.
The Charlotte School of Law student originally from Sandy Run, South Carolina, who said he leans to the left politically, was listening most for any discussion of foreign policy issues.
"I liked Secretary Clinton's specificity as to what she wanted to do, her knowledge of the issues," Alsaeedi said. "I did not get that impression from Donald Trump, but then again, I expect him to delegate most of those duties anyway."
The biggest disappointment to Alsaeedi was a lack of discussion of veterans issues.
"There's a crisis with mental health issues," he said. "There's an epidemic, and it wasn't even mentioned, and it bothers me. ... I would have expected Secretary Clinton to at least have dropped the 'V' word, and it was not."
THE VERDICT: Alsaeedi remains undecided, saying he was turned off by Clinton's polished-politician persona.
"I was on board with her until she opened the can in the conclusion," he said. "It felt like she just spewed this message. I'm undecided still out of a lack of trust in Secretary Clinton, unfortunately."
LESSER OF TWO EVILS
Alanna Conti, a 25-year-old graphic designer from rural Sweet Valley, Pennsylvania, changed her party registration from independent to Democrat so she could vote for Bernie Sanders.
After he lost the primary, she thought about casting her ballot for Libertarian Gary Johnson or Green Party candidate Jill Stein. But Conti doesn't want to throw away her vote so she's considering backing Trump or Clinton, even though "I dislike both of them very much."
Conti's views are all over the map. She favors universal health care and free public college, but she's also open to middle-class tax cuts and even a corporate tax cut, if it could be shown that would bring jobs back from overseas.
As she watched the debate at her home, Conti drew two columns on a pad — one labeled Clinton, the other Trump — and quietly took notes on what the candidates said about the Supreme Court, the Second Amendment, abortion, the economy, foreign policy. She barely uttered a word as she watched and listened, her notes extending to a second page.
Afterward, Conti said Clinton won on policy, as Clinton's views on guns, college and abortion more closely align with hers.
"It's a lesser of two evils election, I think, unless you're like a staunch Hillary Clinton supporter or Trump supporter, Anyone who's in the middle is not happy at all with the choices we have," she said.
THE VERDICT: Conti will vote for Clinton.
STILL WOEFULLY UNDECIDED
Erin Ross, a 36-year-old certified nurse midwife, has always voted Republican: She's a strong believer in fiscal responsibility and small government, and she's also pro-abortion rights.
Other key issues for Ross, who has four college and post-graduate degrees, are immigration, health care and character.
But this might be her first election in which she doesn't cast a presidential vote, and Ross is extremely troubled about that.
Neither Trump nor Clinton is a role model, and the country needs that in a president, said Ross, who watched the debate with her husband, Mike, at their northeast Denver home.
As an on-call nurse, Ross said she gets less coverage under the Affordable Care Act than the immigrants in the country illegally who go to Denver's St. Joseph Hospital to have "anchor babies" with U.S. citizenship.
She doesn't support blanket bans. But "it hurts me as a taxpaying American to see that you're getting excellent health care and I qualify for less quality health care coverage that those coming in."
On the candidates' comments about a rigged election, Ross said: "What's sad is I agree with both. I want facts, not whining that it's rigged. She owes a lot of people a lot of favors. But I think she's absolutely right about respect for American elections."
THE VERDICT: Ross is determined to vote but still feels she has no choices.
RELUCTANT DEMOCRAT
Dave Hart, 39, of Phoenix, is a Democrat torn between voting for Clinton and a third-party candidate.
A software support specialist who works from home, Hart watched the debate with a friend at Chambers On First pub in downtown Phoenix.
Hart started out as a Bernie Sanders supporter and never warmed up toward Clinton. It has nothing to do with her email issues, he said. It's her history as "somebody that plays the game to get what she wants rather than do what's right."
Hart has put off filling out his early ballot, which arrived last week. He saw the final debate as Clinton's last chance to sway him.
Hart has been adamantly opposed to Trump, and the debate only cemented his opinion of the GOP nominee. Hart laughed several times, especially when Trump said he would run the country the way he runs his company.
"Look how many times he's gone bankrupt or ripped off little people — little businesses," Hart said. But he did think the billionaire showed more restraint than the last debate.
As Trump continued to talk over moderator Chris Wallace and Clinton, Hart joked there was one way Clinton could get his vote.
"If she just walked over right now and punched him in the face, I would go home and fill out my ballot," Hart said.
THE VERDICT: Hart is still not 100 percent behind Clinton did appreciate some of her comments about helping families, women and children. He wants to do more research but might half-heartedly join Team Hillary.
"Honestly, if I can't think of a reason not to vote for her, I will," Hart said.
(Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
