For the Record: Clinton, Trump hand out trophies to themselves

Brett McGinness

USA TODAY

Fresh off his debate victory Monday night, Donald Trump headed to the swing state of Florida to rally his supporters down the final six-week stretch. "I was holding back. I didn't want to embarrass her," Trump told the crowd in Melbourne. Meanwhile, fresh off her debate win Monday night, Hillary Clinton is off to the swing state of North Carolina to rally her supporters. “Anybody who complains about the microphone is not having a good night," Clinton told reporters. Clinton's post-debate flash polls put her on more solid ground — CNN (62%-37%), Breitbart/Gravis (48%-43%) and PPP (51%-40%) all gave her the nod — but we're still refreshing RealClearPolitics' Latest Polls page every 15 minutes or so, waiting for new poll numbers to tell us who's ahead in the race now. While we're waiting, here's what's in store for the next two showdowns ...

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Debate 2: Debate Hard with a Vengeance

Look at them, shaking hands and laughing like two civil, grown adults! This is an outrage!

So much ground covered in Monday's debate, and so much ground left to go over (i.e., The Wall wasn't mentioned even once.) Thankfully, this debate series is a trilogy; we have more than enough time to talk about all the things. For that matter, we even have time for a Christopher Nolan-style series reboot, with two entirely new candidates, additional backstory and a grittier, more realistic feel. Here's what we might expect at the Sunday, Oct. 9 debate in St. Louis:

The unaddressed issues. We noted yesterday that the debate didn't touch on health care, the No. 4. issue among registered voters. Also unaddressed: immigration reform (check out Trump's and Clinton's positions here), Social Security (Trump/Clinton), education (Trump/Clinton) and the likely nomination of up to three Supreme Court justices in the next four years (Trump/Clinton).
A more prepared Trump. Trump didn't participate in any traditional debate prep prior to Monday's showdown ... at least, not the kind of prep that includes someone playing the role of the opponent. He also alluded to issues without providing enough context for viewers just beginning to pay attention to the race (i.e., the 750 individuals under deportation orders who were accidentally given U.S. citizenship, a controversy he tried to shoehorn in during the closing question). Former rival Ted Cruz told Hugh Hewitt he'd be happy to help Donald prepare for Round 2. So should we say that Trump nearly held his own with minimal practice — or will more prep work take Trump out of his comfort zone?
A more aggressive Trump. After the debate, Trump celebrated and lamented (celebramented?) the fact that he didn't talk about Bill Clinton's marital infidelity out of respect for Chelsea Clinton, who was in attendance. Instead, he did that thing he does where he says he's too polite to actually say it, and then says it anyway. "I was going to say something extremely rough, to Hillary, to her family, and I said to myself, I can't do it,” Trump said. “I just can't do it. It's inappropriate. It's not nice." But on "Fox and Friends" Tuesday, he suggested that during the next debate, oh, he'll go there.

Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide

Kaine and Pence get their own spinoff debate

Literally millions of people have been invited to the debate so far, but somehow there are still seats available.

Next Tuesday, Tim Kaine and Mike Pence will square off in the vice presidential debate in Farmville, Virginia, a real town full of good-hearted people who have been trying to send you goats and jacaranda trees since 2009 and are pretty offended that you haven't accepted any of them. If you're a presidential debate completist, you'll want to tune in to the debate. If not, maybe you might accidentally find yourself watching it if the remote goes missing. Either way, here's how things might look different from the presidential debates.

Backup president speed-dating. If Clinton or Trump dies of coughing or sniffles, one of these guys will get handed a briefcase filled with nuclear launch codes. Can they pull it off? Do we even know anything about these two? They only have one 90-minute debate to sell us on themselves. Long story short, the most important thing they can do is look knowledgeable, sane and presidential.
Likability. As opposed to their running mates, voters actually like these guys. Weird, right? Normally we think VP nominees are supposed to be the attack dogs to allow their running mates to look presidential and above the fray, but Trump and Clinton haven't shied away from throwing their own punches this year. So in this upside-down election, we expect to see lots of "aw, shucks" folksiness and wouldn't-you-like-to-have-a-beer-with-me affability from these two.
Social issues. Clinton chose Kaine as a running mate to her right in an attempt to appeal to middle America (as opposed to choosing someone to her left, like Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren). Kaine says he's personally against abortion, but supports Roe v. Wade; in the past, he was against adoption by same-sex parents but has shifted to the left. On the other hand, Pence is against abortion, same-sex marriage and civil unions. As Indiana governor, he signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a law that entered your consciousness when a pizzeria refused to cater a same-sex wedding. All this is a roundabout way of saying this debate might cover social issues in a way that we won't see in the presidential debates.

This VP debate may be the latest example of 2016 being different than any election that has come before. Normally this debate is pretty inconsequential in the long run. But in a year when undecided voters are looking for reasons to support two loathed candidates, a likable running mate might be enough reason to push voters one way or another.

Katy Perry votes naked

This is the part where we had planned to say "NSFW language" but you've already clicked anyway so what's the point.

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For the Record: Clinton, Trump hand out trophies to themselves

Debate 2: Debate Hard with a Vengeance

Kaine and Pence get their own spinoff debate

More from the campaign trail

Katy Perry votes naked