Quite frankly, I don't know how his supporters see his waffle. They can't take him literally and know what they are taking literally, because that would be insane. The liberal press is hardly to blame for their ineptness.
Had the Liberal press from get go treated Trump as an equal opponent but spun that he was.....I dunno.....smart and cunning. Lying and manipulative. A persuasive snake oil salesman. (not saying this is true or not) that would have positioned her much better for the debates. That would have been seen as an even contest.
Here they set the bar so high for her and so low for him that he doesn't ha e to do well and hewing. She has to do well and him to do badly and she wins. Even if she does better than him and he just does okay, he wins. Weight of unrealistic expectations.
Polls coming in now seem to suggest it's effect if anything favoured Trump. It is outlandish but I understand it.
This is her wheelhouse. Trump is great at rallies and enthusiasm people. Great at whipping up people into a frenzy. At persuading people he is a change agent. That is his wheelhouse.
Debates therefore HAVE to be where she dominates. He he 10000-20000 at a rally and she gets 200. She can't win there. She has no personality and can't fake personality or humour or the ability to talk to little people. Debates are really it.
Don't get me wrong. I think she did better. This first debate she did well. Trump did not do as good. Trump wins because she did not make him look completely ineffectual.
Unless she can, people will ignore the debates and look at things like enthusiasm, energy, personality and ability to change things, all which favour Trump