She emptied her quiver and he held back and kept the powder dry. Each debate he can roll out a new front and she’ll be lobbing the same old charges.
Rope-a-dope.
I felt like he held back a lot, too, and it was just killing him inside to do it, but he did it. At the end when he alluded to there being things he could have said, you could tell he just wanted to burst out with it all, but he’s saving it for the next debates.
He goaded her strongly in the beginning and she fired back with everything she had. He was himself and came across as speaking from the heart rather than fake and scripted. He actually cares about the US. Hillary only cares about being president.
Coming out a bit weaker is a good strategy for a three debate event. Now he has has set himself up to be the one to “gain momentum” after a “rocky” first debate.