The Final Debate Seen From the WNDC and the Trump Hotel


You could call it a study in American contrasts. Hundreds of Democrats and Republicans turned up to eat, drink, cheer, boo and stay late to opine about the final presidential debate at two elegant — but very different — venues last night: the Woman’s National Democratic Club, in a historic mansion on the corner of Q Street and New Hampshire Avenue NW, and the stunningly renovated Old Post Office, now the Trump International Hotel, just four blocks from the White House.

Partisan reactions to the candidates and what was said during the debate were completely opposite. But many seemed to agree on one thing: this was the most important election in their lifetime, because the makeup and direction of the Supreme Court for the next decade or more is at stake.

More than 200 Democrats packed into the main solon of their club, which will soon mark its 100th birthday, watching the large screen TV tuned to CNN. Nearly twice that number, mostly Republicans it seemed, lounged on sofas and gilded padded chairs at the Trump Hotel to watch four large, easy-to-hear TVs tuned to Fox News over the main bar in the huge, chandeliered, but softly lit main hall. Both audiences often burst out spontaneously with reactions to what the candidates were saying. But the atmosphere at the club seemed more tense, more serious.

“I’m so worried,” said Ellie Newman, a former labor organizer and a member for over 50 years of the WNDC. She wasn’t worried about Hillary making a mistake in the debate nor even her winning the presidency. “I’m worried about being able to take back the Senate and the Supreme Court.

The very first question about the Supreme Court by the moderator, Fox News anchor Chris Wallace, confirmed this focus. Both candidates almost immediately turned it into a discussion about abortion rights and the still controversial Roe v. Wade decision of 1973. Democrats at the WNDC cheered and hooted approvingly as Hillary supported the right of abortion choice — “the most agonizing decision ever for any woman to have to make” — and Planned Parenthood’s health and abortion services. They booed and groaned as Trump accused abortion rights advocates’ willingness to “rip full-term babies out of their mothers’ wombs.” “It’s called a caesarian,” one Hillary supporter replied pointedly.

At the Trump Hotel, on the other hand, seven Republican ladies from upstate New York attending a labor union conference in D.C. nodded vigorously in agreement at Trump’s so-called “pro-life” position on abortion and attacks on Planned Parenthood. “I am 100 percent for life,” several said. “That and keeping the Supreme Court conservative are our main concerns and why we support Trump.”

The repeated accusations of lying and lawbreaking that both candidates hurled at each other didn’t seem to have any impact on the partisans at either venue. It was clear at both the club and the hotel that supporters were pleased by their candidate’s performance, felt they had won the debate and were moving ahead to win the election and the Senate. When Trump responded, “I’ll wait and see if I fully support [Clinton] if she wins” and repeated “I’m going to keep you in suspense,” many at the Trump Hotel laughed.

For some of the friendly New York ladies, the magnificent brand new Trump Hotel was a case very much in favor of their candidate. Allegedly finished almost two months ahead of schedule and under budget, the Republican union activists nodded in admiration. “This is exactly what the country needs. This is what Trump will do for the country.”

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