"The headline is that both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump exposed themselves politically Wednesday night. American voters who are paying attention now know where the candidates stand. The back and forth on abortion is the best example. Trump bluntly said this: 'If you go with what Hillary is saying ... you can take the baby and rip the baby out of the womb of the mother just prior to the birth of the baby.' Secretary Clinton replied, 'I do not think the United States government should be stepping in and making those most personal of decisions.' It is somewhat shocking that Hillary Clinton would support late-term, partial-birth abortion, citing the health of the mother. There are corrupt doctors who will abort for money on the most flimsy of physical excuses. In a humane country the unborn must be protected to some extent. Otherwise, we do not have any moral authority on anything. Now we devolve and get into how the candidates really feel about each other. When Trump said Vladimir Putin has no respect for Hillary Clinton, she replied, 'That's because he'd rather have a puppet as president of the United States.' Then things got even worse. Clinton accused Trump of promoting 'a pattern of divisiveness, a very dark and in many ways, dangerous vision of our country where he incites violence.' It is clear Hillary Clinton despises Trump and vice versa. He said, 'She shouldn't be allowed to run ... she's guilty of a very, very serious crime.' Finally, Donald Trump made a tactical mistake by continuing to suggest the election may be rigged. That may play well with Trump's base, but he needs to win over independents and people who are skeptical of him. His statement dominated the headlines today, overriding all the political points and giving the media another hammer to pound Trump into pudding. Talking Points does not understand why Mr. Trump does not understand that stuff like that hurts him. Summing up, nobody won the debate, so Hillary Clinton will likely maintain her substantial lead."

The Factor asked Republican Congressman Chris Collins, a strong Trump supporter, to analyze the debate. "I would give Hillary Clinton some style points as a career politician," Collins began, "but I would give Donald Trump substance points for getting across issues like the Supreme Court and trade. The energy from his supporters is through the roof and I believe Donald Trump will be the next president. He is a change agent and he has a lot of undercover voters." Collins also expressed confidence that his Republican Party will maintain its majority in the House. "We've always known that we could lose seven to ten seats, but we will return with a very substantial majority." The Factor concluded, "I predict that Hillary Clinton will maintain a six or seven point lead across the country."

For a view from the left, The Factor welcomed former Bill Clinton aide David Goodfriend. "I agree with most of your analysis," Goodfriend said, "but you have to remember that Donald Trump was already losing before the debate. His task was to earn more votes from people who are turning away from him and I don't think he succeeded in doing that." Turning to the immigration issue, Goodfreind reported that he was recently campaigning for Hillary Clinton in the battleground state of Arizona. "Trump's jingoistic statements on immigration don't really sell in Arizona. They want border security, e-verify, and a pathway to citizenship. It's too bad that Trump has vilified a group of people instead of focusing on economics."

Political analyst Frank Luntz gathered his group of 26 undecided voters to watch Wednesday night's debate. Donald Trump's strongest moment, according to the group, came when he criticized Hillary Clinton for being in charge when the State Department somehow lost track of $6-billion. "That was about accountability," Luntz said, "and the American people are desperate to hold Washington politicians accountable. Fact-checkers have challenged whether that number is correct, but the idea that the State Department has lost taxpayer dollars was a winner for him." Hillary Clinton's high point was her harsh criticism of Trump's unwillingness to say he would unquestionably accept the results of the election. "The public believes that elections are fair," Luntz opined, "and they believe candidates should accept the results. Donald Trump made the single biggest error of the debate by not saying he will accept the outcome."

Media analyst Bernie Goldberg, not an easy guy to impress, was extremely laudatory when evaluating the job Chris Wallace did as moderator. "I give him an A+," Goldberg gushed. "The questions were focused and he did not make himself the story. But don't take my word for it, go to the liberal bible - the New York Times praised Wallace for guiding 'the most substantive encounter of an unusually vicious election.'" Goldberg singled out Wallace's decision to press Trump on whether he will accept the results of the election. "That was a great question and it was important because I think it sank whatever small chances Trump still had. He said that because Donald Trump's massive ego will not let him accept the idea that he might lose unless the fix is in."

Dennis Miller, back from his Africa safari, freely admitted that he did not see any of the three debates. "This was great for me," he said, "because I cannot watch Hillary Rodham Clinton without feeling like I'm going to spontaneously human combust. But I did read up on this debate and I don't think what Trump said is the end of the world. Didn't Al Gore just do the same thing?" Miller came down hard on the far-left ideology that dominates many of our institutions and the Democratic Party. "The left believes in cradle-to-grave entitlements, they just make it hard to get to the cradle. And we have malevolent do-gooders fire-bombing 'deplorables' because they think they are righteous and right. I feel like I'm an expatriate living in a foreign country that used to be my own country."

Jesse Watters spun his own roulette wheel in Las Vegas and asked some people on the Strip about the just-concluded debate. Their replies: "I don't really care who won the debate" ... "I didn't watch it and I don't care" ... "We need a president like FDR" ... "Hillary is like an open book" ... "She just says one thing and then another" ... "She's a total puppet."

Sandra Labbabia, Windsor, CT: "It is obvious Hillary received the questions before the debate. How could she know facts from 25 years ago?"

Brit Monteleone, Hammond, LA: "I feel Chris Wallace did a stellar job but was unfair to ask if Trump would accept the election results."

Jason Warren, Troy AL: "Reagan was down in the polls by six points to Carter two weeks before Election Day. He won by ten points."

A South Carolina man wrote in to complain that Chris Wallace was 'the most liberal moderator' this year. That ludicrous assertion is more evidence that ideologues need to take a step back and embrace a bit of rationality.