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The build-up to the first debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump set records. Millions prepared to tune in not because they anticipated a reprise of Lincoln-Douglas or Kennedy-Nixon or even Carter-Reagan. Rather, they eagerly awaited a freak show from the midway of a state fair. Would the candidates explode or implode? The children wanted to know. They didn’t, of course. They never do. The imperfections that occurred will be explained and excused by the respective campaigns. Clinton and Trump hold each other in contempt and did not pretend otherwise. The Victorian impulse is dead.

The candidates threw countless jabs but landed few body blows. Neither appeared presidential. Both spoke to their bases. Gary Johnson, the Libertarian alternative, ought to have been there. His presence would have justified watching the debate rather than Monday Night Football. The evening proved worse than we had feared it would be. We spent much of the evening longing for the dignity of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney.